ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team turned the ball over a season-high 23 times and shot a season-low 38.3 percent from the floor during a 59-48 loss to 13th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) Wednesday night at the Hammermill Center.
The 48 points were a season-low and represented Gannon's lowest scoring output since a 65-45 loss at IUP on January 12, 2011. As a result, the Golden Knights have now dropped back-to-back home games for only the sixth time in the last 13 seasons.
Gannon's setback continues to leave the Golden Knights in postseason limbo with seven games remaining. The Golden Knights' 8-7 PSAC record leaves them in a three-way tie with California (Pa.) and Edinboro for fifth place. Slippery Rock holds down fourth place and the final playoff spot with a 9-6 record.
Wednesday's contest featured eight ties and six lead changes, but the two teams seemed to control a particular half. Gannon trailed 25-22 at halftime despite leading for the majority of the first 20 minutes. The Golden Knights held a 13-6 lead six minutes into the affair, limiting IUP to 3-of-11 shooting with four turnovers in the first eight minutes.
Leading 8-6, Gannon used five straight points to assume its biggest lead of the evening.
Brandon Belt (Odenton, Md./Arundel) made a jumper, before drilling a three-pointer for a 13-6 advantage with 14:01 left in the first half.
Indiana (Pa.) immediately tied the contest with seven consecutive points when Danny Ayebo sandwiched a Marcel Souberbielle three-pointer in the middle of his four points.
The visitors tied the game while Gannon failed to get a shot off in the span of five minutes and 40 seconds. The Golden Knights turned the ball over on nine straight possessions..
Stephen Battle (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone), playing in his first game since December 30, finally stopped the IUP run with a three-pointer from the top of the arc. Gannon proceeded to hold a lead between one and three points until late in the half.
Julian Sanders, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's leading three-point shooter, finally put IUP in front with a three-pointer to give the Crimson Hawks a 20-19 lead at the 2:55 mark.
Gannon momentarily regained the lead on another Belt triple, but Indiana (Pa.) scored the final five points of the half on a Josh Wiegand tip-in and another Sanders' three-point to account for a 25-22 halftime advantage.
IUP held a three-point lead at the break despite Sanders hitting only 2-of-11 field goals and Ashton Smith converting only 2-of-8. The duo entered the game averaging a combined 36.4 points, nearly 52 percent of the team's output. However, the Crimson Hawks were able to produce a lead because of 16 Gannon turnovers and 11 offensive rebounds.
The game's eighth stalemate came at 34-all with 11:18 left, before Indiana (Pa.) made one of its final two big runs. The Crimson Hawks rattled off seven straight points for a 41-34 advantage at the 9:47 mark. Sanders kick started the run with a three-pointer and Smith put the finishing touches on it with an alley-opp dunk.
Gannon rallied within 43-41, but turned the ball over with a chance to tie the game. IUP responded with four straight points. The decisive turn of events arguably came with under four minutes to play. The Golden Knights broke out on a 2-on-1 fast break trailing by five. Instead of cutting the lead to three with a fast-break conversion, the Golden Knights missed the lay-up and then fouled Ayebo after he grabbed the defensive rebound. The foul lead to a pair of free throws which turned possibly a three-point lead to a seven-point advantage.
The visitors gradually built its lead to 59-45, before Belt's third three-pointer accounted for the final 59-48 score. In all, the Crimson Hawks out-scored the Golden Knights 16-4 in the final 8:48 until Belt's triple with 21 seconds remaining.
Belt led all scorers with a career-high 23 points and seven rebounds, hitting 9-of-19 overall shots and 3-of-9 three-pointers.
Darrell Blanton (Cleveland, Ohio/Euclid) was the only other Golden Knight in double digits with 14 points and six rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting. The remainder of the team managed only three field goals in 20 attempts.
Gannon shot 38.3 percent (18-47) from the field, 25 percent (4-16) from three-point range and 57.1 percent (8-14) from the free throw line.
Smith headlined the IUP attack with 17 points after hitting 5-of-6 shots in the second half. Souberbielle added 14 points while Ayebo chipped in 11 markers off the bench.
Indiana (Pa) shot 38.9 percent (21-54) from the floor, 27.8 percent (5-18) from behind the arc and 75 percent (12-16) from the charity stripe.
Gannon dropped to 10-9 overall and 8-7 in the PSAC Western Division with its fifth home loss of the season. Indiana (Pa.) improved to 16-3 overall and 13-2 in conference play with its sixth consecutive victory against Gannon. The Golden Knights return to action Saturday, February 4 against California (Pa.) at the Hammermill Center. The final Saturday night game of the regular season is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
