The No. 3-seeded Crimson Hawks (25-5) used a late-game surge to pull away from the Warriors (22-7) and advance to the Atlantic Region semifinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Trailing 54-52 midway through the second half after back-to-back baskets by East Stroudsburg’s Whis Grant, IUP forged a 54-54 tie with a post move from Josh Wiegand and took the lead for good, 57-54, on Anthony Wells’ sixth 3-pointer of the game with 9:30 to go.
With the Crimson Hawks locking down on the defensive end, Wiegand would eventually cap the decisive 12-3 surge with a jump hook in the paint for a 64-57 IUP edge as the clock ticked past the 5-minute mark.
The Warriors closed the gap to 64-61 on a Grant free throw with 3:22 remaining but Wiegand cashed in an offensive rebound and Scooter Renkin followed with a conventional 3-point play – drawing Grant’s fifth foul in the process – to put the game on ice, 69-61, with 2:31 to go.
Wells set the offensive pace for IUP with 22 points while Marcel Souberbielle added 16 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Renkin and Wiegand rounded out the double-figure scorers with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Grant led all scorers with 26 points for ESU but Terrance King was the only other double-figure scorers for the Warriors with 11 points.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament
(at West Liberty, W.Va.)
Saturday, March 16
Regional Quarterfinals
Afternoon Session
Indiana, Pa. 76, East Stroudsburg 68
No. 2 Winston-Salem State, N.C. (21-6) vs. No. 7 Slippery Rock, Pa. (22-8), 2:30 p.m.
Evening Session
No. 1 WEST LIBERTY (30-1) vs. No. 8 Bowie State, Md. (16-13), 6 p.m.
No. 4 Fairmont State (22-8) vs. No. 5 Livingstone, N.C. (22-6), 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 17
Regional Semifinals
No. 3 Indiana, Pa. (25-5) vs. Winston-Salem State/Slippery Rock winner, 5 p.m.
WEST LIBERTY/Bowie State winner vs. Fairmont State/Livingstone winner, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 19
Regional Championship
Sunday’s winners, 7 p.m.
