INDIANA, PA – The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg men's basketball team traveled to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to take on the nationally ranked, NCAA Division II member Crimson Hawks in a New Year's Eve non-conference matchup. The Bobcats dropped the game 107-55 inside the Kovalchick Complex. 

The #10 ranked NCAA Division II team in the country, IUP, controlled the game from start to finish. The Crimson Hawks got off to a 16-0 lead in the opening five minutes and never looked back. Jaylen Williams connected on the Bobcats first basket, a three pointer at the 15-minute mark, after an 0-for-7 start from the field for Pitt-Greensburg. The IUP lead grew throughout the game and got to as many as 54 points (107-53) with 14 seconds to play. 

The Bobcats were never able to string together more than six points in a row, and that came twice. First, on back-to-back three pointers by Matt Johnson in the middle of the first half, and then on a 6-0 Pitt-Greensburg run at the five-minute mark in the second half. 

Six Bobcats found the scoring column. JoJo France led the offense with 16 points, Reggie Priah tallied 12 points, and Jaylen Williams had 11. Nick Kotecki and Joshua Mentzer scored all nine of the Bobcats bench points. Kotecki scored seven and Mentzer made his first career basket in the final seconds. 

The Crimson Hawks shot 55% (44-80) and owned a +37 rebounding advantage (61-24). Pitt-Greensburg converted on 33% of their 70 field goal attempts and went 6-for-23 from beyond the arc. 

IUP was coming off their first loss of the season and now improves to 10-1 overall. The Crimson Hawks were as high as 6th in the NABC Division II Coaches Poll and 3rd in the D2 SIDA Division II Media Poll. In exhibition play at the beginning of the season, IUP took on NCAA Division I member, the University of Illinois, and only lost by 15 points. Illinois is now 9-3 in Division I play. 

Pitt-Greensburg will return to AMCC play to kick off the New Year. Coach Klimchock will face off against his former squad for the first time, as the Bobcats head to Erie, PA to take on Penn State Behrend on Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm inside the Junker Center. 


Fans can follow the Bobcats all season long online at PittGreensburgAthletics.com, as well as on Twitter (@upgbobcats), Instagram (@UPG_athletics), and Facebook (@UPGbobcats).