 "Photo: The Penn/ Dave Biblis")
The IUP men’s basketball team performed well at Memorial Field House Saturday on Senior Night, finishing off the regular season with an IUP-record 25 wins by pounding Slippery Rock 99-71.
The single-season wins record was held by the 1993-94 and 1995-96 teams at 24 wins.
“We are proud of a single-season record for most wins,” Head Coach Joe Lombardi said.
“It is a sign of a championship team because it is a lot of work over four months. The success of this program is the result of the help of a lot of people. We had a great regular season, and the guys made tremendous sacrifices. They did everything we asked of them.”
The Crimson Hawks, ranked No. 6 in the country and No. 2 in the Atlantic Region, finished the regular season 25-2 overall and 13-1 in the PSAC West. Seniors Akida McLain and Young combined to score more than half of IUP’s points, a special performance during their final home game.
“Historically, I have not played well in front of my mother,” Young said. “It was nice to come out here and play well for her. She’s my biggest critic but also my biggest fan. It was a special moment to play well in front of family.”
Young had 24 points and four rebounds, and McLain had a double double at 26 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Willie Estrella had 15 points and five boards, while guard Julian Sanders had 10 points.
“I’m excited about how Estrella is playing,” Lombardi said. “He gives us great physicality and is rock solid when it comes to rebounding the basketball.”
IUP shot 55 percent from the floor on the night and outrebounded Slippery Rock 42-38.
The score was tight for about three minutes until IUP went on a 12-3 run, making the score 24-12 with half of the first stanza left to play.
The Hawks didn’t give up any momentum and took a 50-33 lead into the break.
IUP next plays Gannon in the PSAC quarterfinals at Memorial Field House at 7 p.m. tonight.
“Gannon is a tough team,” Young said. “They are the toughest team we played in the PSAC West. Everyone is going to be ready and we are just excited about the opportunity.”
The Crimson Hawks defeated Gannon twice this season, but will have to do it a third time if they want to advance and acquire a PSAC tournament title — something IUP has not done since 2004.
“I don’t know if momentum carries into the postseason, but we do have confidence,” Lombardi said. “This marks the end of one season and the beginning of a new. We are just continuing to improve. [Gannon] is going to give us a tough game and they are a tough matchup for us as well. They have confidence to play here and no one played us tougher both games than them. I have great respect for their defense.”
“We have to get better at defensive rebounding,” Lombardi said. “We also need to eliminate turnovers and working at shooting free throws better. Defensively we need to work on containing the dribbler. I hope we get some tremendous support from the community and students for this game.”
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