Box Score
Cheyney (2-1:1-0) upset the nation’s 17th ranked team with a 64-60 victory in the friendly confines of Cope Hall. The Wolves were led by Deshawn Curtis, for the second straight game, with 20 points.
Cheyney jumped out to an 8 point lead at intermission and held on for the win, their first over IUP (4-1:0-1) since the 2009-10 season in which it took the Wolves double overtime to come away with the victory. That season, IUP also made it all the way to the NCAA Finals.
Calvin Brown was the only other player to record double figures. He ended the game with 10 points, all of which came in the first half on 4-4 shooting.
Despite the 8 point half time lead, the Wolves were 0-6 from behind the arc, but a perfect 7-7 from the foul line as they started the second half.
After IUP cut the lead to three at the 14:31 mark the Wolves went on a 10-3 spurt to push the advantage to double figures, at the 12:32 mark, for the first time. Nursing a ten point lead with 10:43 to play the Wolves were on the short side of a 12-4 run that cut the lead to two with 5:36 to play. Cheyney was able to build the lead back up to six with to back baskets by Curtis. However, IUP’s Anthony Wells scored the next five points to bring the advantage back down to one point, 61-60 with 2:55 to play. Thirty seconds later a corner jumper from reserve guard Mike Drinks brought the lead back up to three. Both teams stepped up the defensive pressure in the waning minutes the Wolves forced IUP into three missed three-point attempts and the Wolves turned the ball over twice until Chris Burney iced the game with a free throw with three ticks left on the clock.
Both teams shot lights out the second half as the Wolves converted 13 of 21 (62%) and Crimson Hawks made 13-25 (52%).
IUP jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the game. However, Cheyney battled back and Curtis gave the Wolves their first lead of the after 13-12 on a jumper with 9:24 remaining in the half. With the game tied at 20, the Wolves went on a 7-0 run (Curtis 3 points, Brown 4 points) to pull ahead and lead 33-15 at the break.
It was the first loss of the season for IUP. Mathis Keita led a trio of Crimson Hawks in double figures with 16.
Cheyney is back in action tomorrow at 3:00 pm. The Wolves will face long time nemesis California (PA).
