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INDIANA, Pa. – Mathis Keita scored on a layup with two seconds left to play Saturday night to give 15th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) a 66-64 win over visiting Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division men's basketball action in the Kovalchick Complex.
With the win, Indiana improved its season records to 16-2 overall and 6-2 in division action and moved into a four-way tie for first place in the PSAC West standings at the midway mark of the conference schedule.
SRU, which entered the game in sole possession of the top spot in the division standings, saw a five-game win streak come to an end and fell to 15-5 overall, 6-2 in PSAC West action.
The Rock and Indiana share the top spot with Gannon and Mercyhurst as the conference season prepares for the home stretch of eight games leading up to the conference tournament.
Keita's game-winning shot took some of the luster off a strong individual performance by Rock senior center Maurice Lewis- Briggs.
A 6-foot-8, 240-pounder, Lewis-Briggs literally put The Rock on his broad shoulders and carried them to the threshold of victory. Lewis-Briggs recorded game-high totals of 29 points and 12 rebounds and was the only Rock player to reach double digits in either category.
Senior swingman
Tabari Perry had nine points and eight rebounds in a co-starring role for The Rock, while junior guard
Matej Delinac added eight points in a substitute role.
Marcel Souberbielle scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Indiana, while Keita and Devante Chance each chipped in 12 points.
A 2-to-1 advantage for Indiana in free throw opportunities loomed large in the final outcome. The Crimson Hawks made 27 of 34 (79%) charity tosses compared to a 9-for-16 (56%) showing by SRU.
The Rock, who held a 51-49 lead despite being on the short end of a 26-8 free throw shots comparison to play with 9:45 left to play in the game, were whistled for 23 personal fouls. Indiana was called for 17 fouls,
Ironically, though, it was a proverbial ice-water-in-the-veins, free-throw-shooting performance by Delinac that set up Keita's game-winning shot.
Delinac, after being fouled while attempting a shot from beyond the 3-point arc, coolly canned all three of his charity tosses to knot the score at 64-64 with 14 seconds left to play.
Keita then got loose under the basket for an uncontested layup to give Indiana the victory.
The Rock outscored their hosts by a 55-39 margin in field goal attempts as they hit 26 of 62 (42%) of their action shots with a 3-for-16 (19%) efficiency on 3-point shots. Indiana made 16 of 47 (34%) shots from the floor with a 7-for-22 (32%) showing from long range.
Each team collected 35 rebounds. The Rock were on the lower end of an 11-9 turnover comparison and had a 12-5 advantage in points scored off opponents' mistakes.
SRU also outscored Indiana by a whopping 44-10 margin "in the paint" and by a 12-5 margin in "second-chance" points.
The teams ended the first half of action knotted at 32-32 with 28 of The Rock's points coming on field goal attempts and 13 of Indiana's coming on free throws.
The Rock went on an 11-2 run early in the second half of action to take a 47-38 lead with 14:45 left to play before Indiana clawed its way back to tie the score at 51-51 with 9:15 remaining.
A layup by Cornell Yarde III 30 seconds later put the hosts up by a 53-51 score and they never trailed thereafter. SRU was able, however, to tie the score at 59-59 and 61-61 before Delinac's three free throws deadlocked the teams for the final time.
The Rock open the final half of their PSAC West schedule Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Clarion University before hosting California (Pa.) in a 3 p.m. game next Saturday in Morrow Field House.
