SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – With 10 seconds left to play in Saturday afternoon's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball game in Morrow Field House, hosting Slippery Rock University had a huge “upset” victory within its grasp.

When the final horn sounded, though, 16th-ranked Indiana U. of Pa. had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and handed The Rock a heartbreaking 63-62 loss.

The frenetic finish was set up when, leading 62-61 with 10 ticks left to play in the game, The Rock committed a turnover on an errant length-of the-court inbounds pass against the visitors' full-court pressure.

IUP converted that mistake into points at the other end of the court. Danny Ayebo rose above a pack of players under the Crimson Hawks' basket and, with three seconds left to play, tipped in a missed shot for his only points in the game and the winning points.

The loss snapped a string of three straight wins by The Rock, who saw their season records fall to 12-6 overall and 9-5 in PSAC action.

IUP, which beat SRU for the sixth straight time, improved its season records to 15-3 overall, 12-2 against conference foes.

Senior guard Devin Taylor led The Rock attack with 16 points and 10 rebounds to record his team-best ninth “double-double” of the season. Junior guard Aubin Reeves added 13 points, junior forward Tabari Perry had 11 points and six rebounds and freshman wing Chaquille Pratt had seven points and five rebounds in a substitute role.

Ashton Smith scored a game-high 24 points for IUP. Julian Sanders added 19 points.

Ayebo's game-winning shot capped a duel that saw the lead change hands on eight occasions and the score tied six times.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Reeves with 22 seconds left gave The Rock its final lead of the game. IUP committed a turnover on the ensuing possession and quickly called timeout.

Following the timeout, Rock senior Tommy Kelly attempted to inbound the ball with a fly-pattern pass to a streaking John Bayardelle, but the ball sailes over Bayardelle's head. Attempting to save the ball, Bayardelle leaped as he went out of bounds and flipped the ball over his head back into play.

Sanders, who was guarding Bayardelle on the play, chased down the loose ball and dribbled to the left elbow on the foul lane at the other end of the court, where he attempted a game-winning shot. The attempt was unsuccessful, but in a scrum under the basket for the rebound Ayebo was able to tip the ball up and into the basket.

Two IUP 30-second timeouts later, The Rock attempted another length-of-the-court inbound pass against a packed-in IUP defense, but that toss was intercepted by the guests, who then allowed the final seconds to tick off the clock.

In the end, The Rock's inability to make free throws proved fatal. SRU made only 12 of 20 (60%) charity tosses, while IUP sank 19 of 21 (91%).

The Rock shot 36% (21-58) from the floor and 33% (8-24) from beyond the 3-point arc, while IUP made 38% (21-55) of their field-goal attempts and two of 10 shots from long range.

IUP was only the second team this season to outrebound The Rock as the guests had a 39-38 edge on the backboards. The Crimson Hawks also had two less turnovers than The Rock, 14-12.

The game opened with two ties and three lead changes in the opening four minutes before IUP went on a 9-0 run to take a 15-7 lead with 12:30 left in the first half.

The Rock responded with an 11-4 run to trim the margin to one with 6:20 left and trailed by only one point on two other occasions before halftime, but were unable to retake the lead until 75 seconds had elapsed in the second half.

After trailing by a 29-28 score at the intermission, The Rock regained the lead at 31-29 on a 3-point shot by Taylor with 18:45 left to play in the game.

The teams traded baskets for the next 90 seconds before IUP went on an 11-2 run to take a 44-36 lead with 13:45 remaining.

A little over three minutes later, the Crimson Hawks held a nine-point, 50-41, advantage, but The Rock responded with an 8-0 run to quickly trim the deficit to one point, 50-49, with 7:45 left.

IUP held off The Rock comeback and never relinquished the lead until Reeves' three-point play with 22 seconds left put SRU up by the aforementioned 62-61 margin with 0:22 remaining, which set the stage for the frenetic finish.

The PSAC-West standings at the conclusion of Saturday's action showed IUP with a one-game lead over second-place Mercyhurst (13-5 overall, 11-3 PSAC) with The Rock and Clarion (13-7 overall) tied for third place with 9-5 division records.

The Rock and Clarion will break that tie Wednesday when they meet in a 7:30 p.m. game in Clarion that will close out the first half of the PSAC-West season.

California (11-8 overall) and Gannon (10-8) are tied for fifth place with 8-6 division records, followed by Edinboro (9-9 overall) at 7-7 and Lock Haven (0-17 overall) at 0-14.

SRU, after visiting Clarion Wednesday, hosts Mercyhurst in a 3 p.m. game next Saturday to open the second half of the division schedule.