LHU Men’s Basketball Edged at #6 IUP

INDIANA, Pa. – The Lock Haven University men’s basketball team (1-3, 0-1 PSAC) had a ferocious rally late on the road at #6 Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2-3, 1-0 PSAC) on Saturday, but IUP was able to hold off LHU down the stretch and get the win 90-83 in both teams’ first game of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action.

The Bald Eagles were able to cut a 22-point deficit to four with a little over two minutes to play as they used a 20-2 run over six minutes to climb back into the game. Amir Hinton (Philadelphia/Abington) and Ra’eese Hunt (Upper Marlboro, Md./Riverdale Baptist) were the leaders of the huge Haven run and gave the sixth ranked Crimson Hawks a real scare.

Hinton led all scorers with 24 points and added a team-high seven rebounds. Hunt was able to pour in 20 points of his own.

In the second half alone, the Bald Eagles were able to outscore the sixth ranked team in the country 53-47 while shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 45 percent from the three-point line. Marques Jackson (Philadelphia/Monsignor Bonner) scored all 14 of his points in the half while going 6-8 from the field.

The Haven defense was able to force 19 IUP turnovers throughout the game with great ball pressure and playing the passing lanes. This led to nine steals for the Bald Eagles with Hinton leading the way with four.

Matt Cerruti (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Archbishop Wood) played well for LHU, as he was able to score 11 points to go along with five rebounds

The Bald Eagles get right back to action as they travel to Seton Hill Sunday to take on the Griffins. The game is set for a 3:00 tip-off.