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CLARION, Pa. – For the second time in as many games, an opposing player scored a basket in the final seconds of action Wednesday night to hand the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division setback.

The latest gut-wrenching loss came as the result of a 3-point basket by Clarion University's Marques Jones with 1.7 seconds left to play in overtime. Jones' trey delivered an 87-86 upset win to the Golden Eagles, who entered the game tied with Edinboro for last place in the PSAC West standings.

Wednesday's win was only the second recorded by Clarion in nine PSAC West games and the fourth in 17 total games played this winter.

SRU, which began the night included in a four-team logjam for the top spot in the division standings, saw its season records fall to 15-6 overall, 6-3 in division action after dropping back-to-back games for the first time this season.

When the smoke cleared Wednesday night, The Rock found themselves tied with Gannon for third place, one game behind co-leaders Indiana (Pa.) and Mercyhurst.

Gannon (11-8, 6-3) was itself an upset victim Wednesday night as hosting California (Pa.), SRU's foe in Saturday's 3 p.m. game in Morrow Field House, handed the Golden Knights a 62-59 setback in California.

California, which also owns an upset win over Indiana, brings a 9-10 overall record and a 4-5 division mark into Saturday's action.

Up next for The Rock after the game against California will be a road trip to Gannon next Wednesday night.

In other PSAC West action Wednesday night, Indiana (17-2, 7-2) pounded Pitt-Johnstown 91-68 and Mercyhurst (11-8, 7-2) subdued Seton Hill 57-47.

Seton Hill dropped to 12-7 and 4-5 with its loss, while Pitt-Johnstown dropped to 10-9 and 3-6.

As was the case last Saturday when The Rock dropped a 66-64 decision in Indiana on a basket with 2.3 seconds left to play, Wednesday's last-second loss overshadowed a strong offensive effort by Rock senior center Maurice Lewis-Briggs.

Lewis-Briggs, who scored 29 points in last Saturday's loss, scored 25 of The Rock's 40 second-half points Wednesday night to finish the evening with a game-high total of 27 tallies. He also snared eight rebounds.

Senior swingman Tabari Perry collected 18 points and a team-best 11 rebounds for The Rock, while junior forward Kelvin Dixon added 12 points and 10 rebounds and senior guard Josh Martin chipped in 11 points and six assists. Redshirt junior guard Antonio Butler contributed eight points and seven rebounds in a substitute role.

Clarion's winning attack featured the 1-2 punch of Jones and Mike Kromka. Jones scored 23 points to take second billing behind Kromka's team-high 26 points and game-high 15 rebounds. Anthony Baker added 15 points for the Golden Eagles, who lost a 79-65 decision to The Rock in the teams' first meeting this season (Nov. 20 in Slippery Rock).

The Rock finished Wednesday's game with a 45% (29 of 65) efficiency on its field-goal attempts with a 32% (6 of 19) showing from 3-point range and made 22 of 32 (70%) free throws.

Clarion shot 42% (25 of 60) from the field, hit 11 of 25 (44%) shots from long range and sank 26 of 32 (81%) free throws.

The Rock had a 45-37 rebounding advantage and also had less turnovers, 8-7.

SRU rode a 19-6 scoring run to a 22-10 lead with 13 minutes left to play in the first half of action before Clarion clawed its way back to trim the margin to six points on five occasions leading into the intermission.

The Rock had a 38-31 cushion at halftime and remained in the lead for almost the final 20 minutes of regulation time.

Up by a 71-70 edge with 10 seconds left to play in standard time, The Rock failed to slam the door as Butler missed a pair of free throws.

Seven seconds later, Kromka in turn missed the second of a two-shot opportunity that would have given Clarion a one-point lead, so the teams went into overtime with the score knotted at 71-71.

Clarion took the early lead in the overtime period before a 6-3 Rock spurt put the guests up by a 77-74 margin, the first of four 3-point leads the guests would hold in the five-minute period.

A pair of free throws by Lewis-Briggs with nine seconds left in the overtime put SRU up by an 86-84 score, but that ultimately merely set the stage for Jones' game-winning, long-range bomb.