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INDIANA, Pa. – Slippery Rock University's bid for a second Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball championship came up short Saturday night as hosting and 13th-ranked Indiana U. of Pa. recorded a 52-46 win over The Rock in the lowest championship game in tournament history.
The conference championship was IUP's third in the last four seasons and eighth overall. With the conference title came an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional tournament that starts next weekend.
SRU, which won its only men's basketball conference title 50 years earlier, had to settle for its seventh second-place finish and second in the last three seasons. The Green and White also lost the 2011 finale at IUP.
The Rock (22-8) must now wait anxiously until late Sunday evening to learn if they will earn an at-large berth in the eight-team regional tournament. SRU was not ranked in the top 10 teams in the regional ranking released last Wednesday, but knocked off a pair of 22-win teams in succession (Gannon in quarterfinal action last Tuesday, East Stroudsburg in last Friday's semifinal) since that poll was conducted.
East Stroudsburg (22-6) was the No. 6 team in last Wednesday's regional poll, while IUP was ranked fourth. West Chester (20-8), which lost a 92-76 semifinal decision to IUP last Friday, was the No. 9 team in the poll.
Josh Wiegand proved to be the biggest thorn in The Rock's side Saturday night as he scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Crimson Hawks (24-5). Anthony Wells added 10 points and five rebounds for IUP and tournament MVP Mathis Keita added nine points and eight rebounds.
Senior forward
Devin Taylor recorded team-high totals of 14 points and six rebounds for SRU. Junior swingman
Tabari Perry added 10 points and senior forward
Gerald Brooks contributed nine points and five rebounds.
The Rock ended the game with a chilly 29% (15 of 52) efficiency on its field-goal attempts, made four of 16 shots from 3-point range and sank 12 of 16 free throws.
IUP shot 37% (19 of 52) from the field, made six of 16 (38%) from 3-point range and sank eight of 16 free throws.
The Crimson Hawks, who won the battle on the backboard by a 37-36 edge, were also only the fourth team to outrebound The Rock in 29 games this winter.
SRU committed nine turnovers, compared to eight for IUP.
The Rock jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead to open the game before IUP scored the next five points for the first of six lead changes in the game.
A 3-point basket by Keita with 7:30 left to play in the first half gave IUP the lead for good and started a 7-0 run that gave the Crimson Hawks a 16-11 advantage at the 5:30 mark of the first half.
The hosts held a 22-16 lead at the intermission, then put together a 10-2 run in the first four and a half minutes of the second half to take a 32-18 lead with 15:30 left to play in the game.
The margin was 15 points, 41-26, with 9:15 left before The Rock clawed their way back. A 7-0 SRU run trimmed the deficit to 41-34 with seven minutes remaining to be played.
After IUP scored the next four points to push the margin back into double digits, SRU made its final run with another string of seven unanswered points that made it a 45-41 game with 2:30 left.
That proved to be the final Rock rally, though, as IUP scored the next four points and held a 50-41 lead with one minutes left to play.
Notes:
Saturday's loss denied The Rock a share of the school record for wins in a season. The 1972-73, 1989-90 and 1990-91 teams each recorded 23 victories … The NCAA Division II playoff field will be announced at 10:30 p.m. Sunday via www.ncaa.com.
