IUP tops Cal (Pa.) to win NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional championship

Playing Cal (Pa.) for the fourth time of the season, IUP head coach Joe Lombardi said he had to come up with a way for his Crimson Hawks to be the hunter, to chase the Vulcans a little heading into Tuesday’s NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship.

That’s where social media came in.

“I didn’t see it, but I know there was a little talk. I think that really motivated us,” Lombardi said.

The longtime head coach called the game a “rock fight” with each team slinging blow after blow.

After the dust settled, it’s the Crimson Hawks heading to Evansville, Ind., thanks to a 68-59 win over the Vulcans.

“It’s disappointing,” Cal (Pa.) coach Danny Sancomb said. “This is a special group, but when you look back on three years ago, we were dressing six kids. These kids represented our team and our university proudly and I couldn’t be happier to be where we are in such a short time.”

The Crimson Hawks (32-2) were clinging to a one-point lead until Ethan Porterfield buried a 3-pointer from the corner to give IUP a 58-54 advantage.

“I saw Armoni (Foster) kind of look at me in the corner of his eye, so I knew he was going to throw it to me,” Porterfield said. “Before I caught it, I knew it was going in.”

“I knew it was going in, too,” Foster added.

The 3-pointer was the last field goal of the game for the Crimson Hawks, but they went 10 for 10 from the line in the final 1:31 to put the Vulcans (23-10) away.

IUP led by two at the half and pushed the lead up to 42-36 with 14:22 remaining, but the Vulcans threw another haymaker with back-to-back 3-pointers from Keith Palek and Preston Boswell to tie it at 42 at the under-12 media timeout.

“I liked where we were in that type of slugfest game,” Sancomb said. “But you have to give credit to IUP. They’re a great team and they did what great teams do: They made plays down the stretch.”

The teams swapped the lead 10 times over the next eight minutes before Porterfield’s big 3.

“We were really good at taking the 3-pointer away from them,” Sancomb said. “We know their whole team can shoot it, but the kid made a huge shot.”

Foster led the way for the Crimson Hawks with 19 points, Porterfield finished with 16. Dave Morris added 12 for IUP.

All five starters hit double figures for Cal (Pa.), led by senior guard Brent Pegram, who finished with 15. Boswell and Zyan Collins each had 11, Palek and Philip Alston scored 10 apiece. Alston notched another double-double, ripping down 11 rebounds before fouling out.

“Basketball is a cruel game,” Sancomb said. “I think the difference was fatigue down the stretch. (IUP) goes a little deeper than us on the bench. It’s one thing that makes them a great basketball team.”

Neither team was able to gain much separation in the first half as the Vulcans led by as much as four while the Crimson Hawks’ largest lead was only two.

The teams didn’t find much offense, combining for more turnovers (7) than points (6) in the opening four minutes.

The Vulcans were able to take a 10-7 lead with 11:56 to go in the half after a pair of free throws and a jumper from senior Brent Pegram.

After a pair of Crimson Hawk free throws, Boswell connected from long range for Cal (Pa.) to make it 13-9.

IUP answered, scoring seven of the next nine points when Foster hit the only 3-pointer of the half for the Hawks. Porterfield added a nice bucket under the hoop and Tumiwa Sulaiman hit both ends of a one-and-one to give IUP a 16-15 lead with 7:10 remaining in the half.

The Vulcans scored the next three before IUP took the lead again 22-20 on baskets by Porterfield, Foster and Tommy Demogerontas.

Zyan Collins scored the next five for the Vulcans, including a trey from the corner, but the Crimson Hawks scored the final five of the half to lead 27-25 at the break.

IUP will begin play Tuesday in the Elite 8 in Evansville. The NCAA reseeds the bracket, so they’ll learn their opponent at a later date.