Boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Slippery Rock University went to-to-toe with ninth-ranked and divison-leading Indiana in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action Saturday night before losing an 83-74 decision in Morrow Field House.

Junior guard Jabril Bailey scored a team-high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds and junior forward Maron Brown added 20 points and a team-best eight rebounds for The Rock, who saw their overall record fall to 13-6 and their PSAC-West mark drop to 2-4.

Senior guards Maurice Douglas and Cecil Brown chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, for The Rock. Cecil Brown also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out seven assists.

Darryl Webb had a 22-point, 15-rebound "double-double" to lead Indiana (17-1, 6-0 PSAC-West).

The Crimson Hawks lead the PSAC-West by one game over Clarion (13-6, 5-1). Gannon (9-9, 4-2) is two games off the pace and Mercyhurst (13-6, 3-3) three games back. The Rock, Edinboro (8-11, 2-4) and Lock Haven (5-12, 2-4) are tied for fifthj place with California (12-9, 0-6) in last place.

The Rock opens a three-game road trip Wednesday at California (8 p.m.).

The next Rock home game is Feb. 13, when Edinboro invades Morrow Field House for a 3 p.m. division game.

The Rock finished Saturday's game with a 39% (26-67) efficiency on its field goal attempts that included a 31% (10-32) reading from beyond the 3-point arc. SRU made 12 of 14 (86%) free throws.

Indiana, which held a slim 43-40 rebounding edge over The Rock, shot 43% (29-68) from the field, 30% (6-20) from 3-point range and 79% (19-24) from the foul line.

The Rock had 14 turnovers compared to nine for the guests. Indiana outscored the hosts by a 44-22 margin "in the paint," 22-11 in "second-chance points," 22-13 off turnovers and 13-3 in points "off the bench."

Indiana took advantage of an 0-for-11 shooting effort (0-6 from 3-point range) by SRU in the first four minutes of action to take a 6-0 lead before Douglas buried a 3-pointer to get The Rock on the scoreboard.

That started an 8-0 Rock run in less than a minute that put the hosts on top by an 8-6 score with 15 minutes left in the first half.

indiana tied the score at 8-8 before The Rock scored five unanswered points to take its largest lead of the game, 13-8, with 13 minutes left before halftime.

The Rock remained in the lead until the 6:20 mark of the opening period when Indiana tied the score at 23-23 and regained the lead before the guests again evened the count at 28-28 with four minutes left.

Indiana scored seven of the last nine first-half points to take a five-point, 35-30, lead into the intermission.

An 8-0 Crimson Hawks run to open the second half extended the guests' lead to 13 points, 43-30, with 18:45 left to play.

SRU trimmed the deficit to five points on two occasions (53-48 and 55-50) midway through the final stanza, only to see the guests go on a 7-2 run to push the margin back to double digits, 62-52, with eight minutes remaining.

The Rock clawed back to trim the gap to four points (73-69 with 3:30 left and 78-74 with 1:15 left) but was ultimately never able to overcome the cold start to the second half of action.

Indiana scored the last five points of the game to set the final nine-point margin.

Notes:

Armstrong Cable videotaped Saturday's men's and women's games and will replay the games starting at 8 p.m. Monday on Channel 19 in the Slippery Rock/Grove City area and Channel 10 in the Butler/Zelienople/Cranberry area. The men's game will be the first game replayed Monday, followed immediately by the women's game vs. Indiana ... The SRU Athletic Department and Advancement Division honored players and coaches from the 1972-73 men's basketball team during a pregame reception and halftime ceremony as part of Saturday's events in Morrow Field House. The 1972-73 team coached by Mel Hankinson won the NAIA regional championship and advanced to the national final four ... Maron Brown finished Saturday's game two rebounds shy of an eight straight "double-double" ... Rock senior guard Michael Evans Jr. failed to make a 3-point field goal for the second straight game after hitting at least one trey in each of the first 17 games this winter. Evans, who ranks fifth in Rock men's basketball history with 110 treys in the last two seasons, had hit at least one 3-pointer in 44 of 48 games with the Green and White.