Indiana, PA (March 12, 2022) – Eighth seed Fayetteville State (21-9 overall) fell to No. 1 Indiana University of Pennsylvania (30-2) in the first round of the NCAA DII Men's Basketball Atlantic Region Championship Tournament, 49-65, in Indiana, Pa.
"Since we won the CIAA Tournament, I have been trying for two weeks to prepare the team to play a team like IUP," said Head Coach
Luke D'Alessio. "With all the tradition, fan base, resources, it's a different level that we are not used to. Two years ago, we lost the CIAA Tournament by one point. That experience helped us to win the next time. I can't get them experience like this until we play in it."
Leading the charge,
Cress Worthy finished with 18 points, 12 of which came from beyond the 3-point arc.
Darian Dixon added ten points while shooting perfectly from the charity stripe (4-4). Zion Dixon and
Darryl Myers had a game-high nine rebounds each.
The Broncos tied the game with the Crimson Hawks early (13:23) in the first half 8-8 with a defensive rebound and coast-to-coast drive by guard
Jalen Seegars.
Seegars fouled out the game in the second half at the 6:52 mark with five points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Despite out-rebounding IUP 24-18 in the first half, FSU shot 8-for-28 from the field to trail 32-23 at intermission.
Down by 17 (46-29) with 12:37 left in the game, Fayetteville State found a rhythm that led to an 11-0 run. Three back-to-back three-point by Worthy and a pair of free throws from
Zion Cousins had the Broncos down by six (46-40) with 9:17 to go in the game.
IUP responded with an 8-0 run (56-44, 5:47) and pushed its lead to 19 (65-46) with 2:20 left.
The Bronco's defense held IUP, who averages 80.2 points per game, to 65 points tonight. It's a feat that has only been done four times this season.
