Boxscore

CLARION, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team suffered its third straight loss Saturday afternoon as hosting Clarion University (11-6, 3-1) handed the Green and White a 76-73 setback in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.

The loss was The Rock's fifth in the last seven outings after a 10-0 start and dropped the Green and White's season record to 12-5 and their PSAC-West mark at 1-3.

The Rock seeks to end its skid Wednesday when it hosts Lock Haven for an 8 p.m. division game in Morrow Field House. Next Saturday, SRU entertains nationally-ranked and division-leading Indiana, Pa., in another 8 p.m. PSAC-West game.

Junior guard Jabril Bailey scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead The Rock effort. Junior forward Maron Brown finished the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds to record his sixth straight "double-double" effort and senior guard Michael Evans Jr. added 16 points.

The Rock finished the game with a 38% (28-66) efficiency in field goal attempts that included a 22% (7-32) reading from 3-point range. SRU made 16 of 25 (64%) free throws.

Clarion shot 43% (23-67) from the field, 18% (2-11) from 3-point range and 55% (16-29) from the foul line.

The hosts held a slim 46-45 rebounding edge and had less turnovers, 14-11.

For the third straight game, The Rock trailed at halftime as Clarion took a 38-35 lead into the intermission.

SRU battled back to take a 50-49 lead with 13 minutes left to play, which started a string of six lead changes in the span of four minutes.

Clarion regained the lead at 56-55 with 9:15 left and never trailed thereafter. The Rock twice trimmed the deficit to one point, the time coming with 3:30 left when the score was 66-65.

The hosts scored the next four points to push the margin to five points but were not able to lock up the win until a last-second 3-point attempt by Evans Jr. came up short.

Notes:

Saturday's "double-double" was the team-high ninth of the season for Maron Brown. He is six shy of tying the school record set by Denell Stephens last winter  ... Kevin Reynolds remains tied with Cliff Wettig (1973-75) for the most wins recorded by a Rock men's basketball head coach in his first two seasons. Reynolds has compiled a 33-13 record as the Green and White's boss … Reynolds, after using the same starting lineup for seven straight games, benched senior guards Maurice Douglas and Andre Tarver Saturday and included seniors Cecil Brown and Bryen Spriggs in the first five.