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March 14, 2010
Ashton Smith buried a pair of 3-pointers to ignite a 15-4 second half run and IUP shot a sizzling 55.4 percent from the field to carry the Crimson Hawks to a 91-76 victory over West Virginia State in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region tournament at Memorial Field House. IUP (30-2) earned the first 30-win season in school history and moved into the region championship game Tuesday at 7 p.m. at home versus West Liberty, which eliminated Saint Augustine's 90-83. The winner of Tuesday's game advances to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., March 24-27. IUP will be seeking its first trip to the Elite Eight since 2002 and fifth overall. IUP is in its sixth regional final and has an overall record of 16-8 in NCAA tournament play. West Liberty won its first two NCAA games this weekend and will be looking for its first ever trip to the Elite Eight. The second-ranked Crimson Hawks have won 12 in a row since last losing at Clarion on February 7 and remained undefeated in 17 home games this season, breaking the 2001-02 team's record of 16 home victories in a season. IUP snapped a tie for most wins in a season with the 1994-95 team which finished 29-2 and reached the NCAA Final Four. Thomas Young hit 12 of 15 shots from the field and scored 25 points, one shy of his career high. Smith and Akida McLain both had 17 points and Julian Sanders hit five 3-pointers and finished with 15. McLain, making his first start since injuring his right wrist in the first round of the PSAC playoffs versus Gannon, made 8 of 11 shots and also grabbed eight rebounds. Darryl Webb paced the Crimson Hawks on the boards with 10 to help the Crimson Hawks dominate on the glass by a 41-25 margin. Webb, who also scored eight points, moved into 10th place in IUP history with 1,324 points and sole possession of third place in career rebounds with 836. Scooter Renkin dished out six assists and Smith and Young both had five as IUP had assists on 25 of its 36 field goals. Darren Jones led all scorers with 40 points for West Virginia State, which finished its season with a record of 29-4 and the WVIAC tournament championship. Jones made five 3-pointers and was 17 of 18 from the line while also dishing out four assists. Bo King also made five from beyond the arc and was the only other Yellow Jacket in double figures with 17 points. Jason Emerson, who hit nine 3-pointers in an opening round win over East Stroudsburg, made only one versus IUP and was limited to three points. West Virginia State shot 41.2 percent from the field and scored fewer than 80 points for only the sixth time this season. The Crimson Hawks led 50-42 with 15:52 left in the game before the Yellow Jackets bounced back to tie it four times, the final time at 62 on a layup by Jones with 9:21 remaining. Smith then gave IUP the lead for good with his first 3-pointer 14 seconds later and after a Jones miss buried another one to give the Crimson Hawks a 68-62 lead. A steal by Sanders and layup by Kevin Stewart made it an eight-point game again, but Jones had two free throws and a layup to bring West Virginia State within four. It proved just a temporary surge as IUP responded by scoring the next seven points, including a 3-pointer by Sanders, to take its first double digit lead of the game at 77-66 at the 5:31 mark. A long range bomb by King made it 77-69, but Renkin assisted on the next three Crimson Hawk baskets - a layup and dunk by Young and a hoop by Webb - to put the game out of reach. |
