IUP big man Daddy Ugbede came through in a big way and gave the Crimson Hawks a 72-68 victory over Tarleton State Thursday evening to advance to Saturday’s Division II National Championship.
The 6-foot-6 junior scored six points in a crucial run, including a game-tying layup to help IUP overcome the Texans during the second half.
Early in the big 17-2 run, IUP forced three turnovers during a four-minute span and regained the lead off a phenomenal block in the lane by Devante Chance, who pushed it up ahead to Shawn Dyer. Dyer was fouled and cashed in on two free throws at the line to take a 51-49 lead. The slim margin was IUP’s first lead of the second half.
It was Dyer again who capped off the big run with a long 3 from the top of the key to give IUP a 56-51 lead with 3:23 remaining. The Crimson Hawks then pushed their lead to 10 with just under a minute left before closing out the game.
Ugbede finished the game with 16 points for IUP while Dyer led the Crimson Hawks with 20 points after having just four points in the first half.
“I just kept sticking with it,” Dyer said on the court following the game. “My teammates kept telling me to be aggressive and shoot the ball.”
During the first half, IUP got out to a quick start.
After Talerton State’s EJ Reed drilled a game-opening 3-pointer, IUP went on a 9-0 run to take a quick six-point lead. Tarleton, though, would rally back with its own run, which eventually led to an 18-12 lead for the Texans. IUP, however, countered with yet another big 13-2 run despite a scoring drought of 3:04 from both teams to go up 25-20.
Free throws down the stretch of the first half gave the Crimson Hawks a slim 29-27 advantage.
During that first half, Tarleton changed up its defense early, switching from a simple zone to a pressure 1-2-2 trapping defense, which gave the Crimson Hawks fits. That defense forced two charging fouls to go with three turnovers that allowed the Texans to make their run midway through the half.
While the first half ended in favor of IUP, the start of the second half was all Tarleton State.
The Texans began the half on an 18-6 run, headlined by a monster alley-oop dunk from Mo Lee to Malcom Hamilton followed by two free throws on a technical foul on IUP coach Joe Lombardi. That stretch gave Tarleton its largest lead of the game up to that point at 10, 45-35.
IUP had just one field goal and four turnovers in that stretch.
But the Crimson Hawks battled back with its own 17-2 that gave IUP a five-point lead that it never relinquished.
After that technical foul, IUP seemed to pull together for its coach, who said that he just needed to get his team’s attention.
“Sometimes you’ve got to stand up and fight for your guys,” Lombardi said on the court following the game. “These guys just responded. They thought they were going to win even when they were 10 down.
“They’re resilient. They love one another and they believe in each other, and those are two powerful things to have.”
Photo Credit: ThePenn.org
