INDIANA, Pa. – For the second time this winter, the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion Indiana U. of Pa. before losing a narrow decision.

Marcel Souberbielle scored five points in the final 30 seconds, including a 3-point basket that gave IUP a lead it would not relinquish, to lift the 17th-ranked Crimson Hawks to a 66-63 victory.

SRU's John Bayardelle buried a trey with 1:01 left to tie the game at 61-61, but that proved to be The Rock's last hurrah.

Souberbielle's 3-point shot with 0:31 left to play and a pair of free throws 15 seconds later gave the hosts a 66-61 lead.

Tabari Perry scored on an offensive rebound with 0:12 left to account for the final points of the game.

But SRU battled to the final horn as Devin Taylor misfired on a potential game-tying 3-point shot with 0:05 left.

Taylor finished the game with a team-high14 points and seven rebounds. Chaquille Pratt added 12 points and five rebounds in a substitute role, Perry chipped in 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds, Luiz Santos scored eight points and Bayardelle finished with seven points off the bench.

Ashton Smith scored a game-high 23 points for IUP, while Souberbielle and Julian Sanders each added 13 points.

The Rock finished the game with a 42% (25-59) efficiency on their field-goal attempts, shot 29% (5-17) from 3-point range and made eight of nine (89%) free throws.

The guests also won the rebounding battle by a 31-28 margin and have now outrebounded 21 of 24 opponents this winter.

IUP shot 45% (23-51) from the field, 31% (4-13) from 3-point range and was a perfect 16-of-16 from the foul line. The Crimson Hawks won by turnover battle by a narrow 10-9 margin.

Saturday's loss snapped a four-game win streak for The Rock and dropped the Green and White's season records to 16-8 overall and 13-7 in PSAC action.

The loss also deprived SRU of a share of second place in the PSAC-West standings heading into the final two games on the regular-season schedule. Mercyhurst (16-8 overall, 14-6 PSAC), which began the day with a one-game lead over third-place SRU, dropped a 61-56 decision to California (Pa.) earlier in the day.

IUP, with the win Saturday, assured itself of the division title. The Crimson Hawks, who lead Mercyhurst by three games with only two left to play, also locked up a host role for the first round of the conference's postseason tournament.

SRU leads fourth-place California (15-11 overall, 12-8 PSAC) by one game and both Clarion (15-11 overall, 11-9 PSAC) and Gannon (13-11 overall, 11-9 PSAC) by two games.

The Rock can clinch their second consecutive PSAC tournament berth and third in Kevin Reynolds' four seasons as head coach with a win in either of its final two regular-season games, Wednesday vs. Gannon or next Saturday vs. Clarion.

Saturday's game at IUP was the final regular-season road trip of the season for SRU, which hosts both games next week.

The top four teams at the end of regular-season competition earn berths in the single-elimination conference tournament. SRU lost at IUP in last year's PSAC title game after advancing to the semifinal round in Reynolds' rookie season.

The Rock and IUP battled on even terms for the first six and a half minutes of action Saturday night, during which the lead changed hands four times and the score was tied on three occasions.

A six-minute scoring drought by SRU allowed IUP to run off 10 unanswered points and take a 24-14 lead with 7:45 left in the first half.

The Rock never trimmed the deficit to less than five points the rest of the opening period and trailed by nine points, 32-23, at the intermission.

SRU made 33% (9-27) of their field-goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes with a 1-for-7 (13%) showing from 3-point range. The Rock made all four of their first-half free throw attempts, but had more turnovers (7-4) and less rebounds (15-14) than their hosts.

IUP shot 48% (13-27) from the field in the first half, hit only one of six (17%) long-range shots and was also perfect from the charity stripe (5-of-5).

Taylor scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds to lead The Rock's first-half effort. Smith scored 10 first-half points for IUP.

SRU's 23-point first-half effort represented its second-lowest opening-stanza output of the season. The Rock scored 22 points in the first half of their Jan. 16 win at California, Pa.

IUP opened the season half with a 7-4 spurt to take its largest lead of the game, a 12-point, 39-27 advantage with 16:45 left to play in the game.

Undaunted, The Rock clawed its way back and, on the strength of a 17-4 run, erased the deficit and took a 44-43 lead with 11 minutes left on a 3-point shot by Perry.

Perry then answered an IUP basket with a bucket of his own to give The Rock their final lead of the game, 46-45, with 8:30 remaining.

IUP scored the next four points and eventually held a trio of four-point leads before Bayardelle's trey tied the score at 61-61 and set the stage for the frenetic final minute of action.