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INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team outscored Indiana University (Pa.) 39-26 over the final 16:40 of the second half, but couldn't overcome a frigid first half performance in dropping a 69-61 decision to the Crimson Hawks Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action.
 
Slippery Rock made just eight field goals in the first half and shot 27.6 percent for the opening 20 minutes. Indiana shot 53 percent over that stretch and led by 10, 32-22 at halftime.
 
The Rock had the better of the play in the second half but ultimately could never overcome the poor start as Indiana held on for the win.
 
The loss gives the two rivals a split of the season series with each team winning on their home floor. It also continues a disappointing trend for Slippery Rock with its 26th consecutive loss on the road at Indiana.
 
The win improves the Crimson Hawks to 21-5 overall and 15-5 in PSAC West games, but keeps Indiana in third place in the division standings. Gannon remains in first place at 16-4 and Mercyhurst stays second at 16-5. Slippery Rock drops to 18-8 overall and 13-7 in PSAC action and remains fourth in the standings.
 
Wednesday's loss also guarantees Slippery Rock cannot finish in the top two in the league standings which means The Rock will host an opening round PSAC playoff game as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.
 
Slippery Rock took 20 more field goal attempts than Indiana in the game Wednesday night and finished 23-of-72 from the field (31.9 percent), 5-of-18 from 3-point (27.8 percent) and 10-of-13 at the free throw line (76.9 percent). The Rock managed a 43-38 edge in rebounding.
 
Indiana shot better from 3-point than Slippery Rock managed from the field. The Crimson Hawks were 46.2 percent for the game (24-of-52), but were 33.3 percent from 3-point (8-of-24) and consistently knocked down wide open 3-pointers to calm Slippery Rock runs. The hosts were 65 percent at the free throw line (13-of-20).
 
Antonio Butler led Slippery Rock in scoring with 23 points for his 18th straight double figure scoring output. Malcolm Richardson added his third straight double figure effort with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Erik Raleigh chipped in six points and seven rebounds off the bench. Frank Holloway and Abdul King each scored five points to cap the top scorers.
 
Indiana was led by Devante Chance with 23 points and seven assists. Brandon Norfleet added 20 points.
 
Slippery Rock scored the first points of the game with a 3-pointer from Richardson, but Indiana erased that with its next two possessions and the game was never tied after that.
The Crimson Hawks led by 10 at halftime and then opened the second half with an 11-0 run to jump out to a 21-point lead, 43-22 with 16:40 to play.
 
That deficit proved to be too large for Slippery Rock to overcome, but the visitors fought all night to make it close.
 
The Rock started to eat away at the 21-point margin with a 13-1 run to make it a nine-point game, 44-35 with 12:31 to play.
 
Indiana weathered that storm and regained a 14-point advantage, 63-49 with 3:15 to play.
 
Slippery Rock put together a 10-2 run from there to get it back to a six-point game, 65-59 with 31 seconds to play, but Indiana was able to convert its free throw attempts to hold on for the win.
 
Wednesday's game featured two of the top teams in the Atlantic Region according to the NCAA regional rankings that were released about five hours before tip. Indiana is ranked third in the region and Slippery Rock ranks sixth in the first set of rankings that will ultimately determine the field for the NCAA Tournament. The PSAC West was represented with spots 3-6 in the rankings with Gannon ranking fourth and Mercyhurst ranking fifth.
 
Slippery Rock has two regular season games remaining. First up is a road trip to Clarion Sunday for a 3 p.m. game and then California (Pa.) will visit Morrow Field House Feb. 25 for an 8 p.m. tip on Senior Night to close the regular season.
 
 If Slippery Rock ends up as the No. 4 seed in the division, it will host the No. 5 seed Feb. 28. If The Rock manages to move up to the No. 3 spot, they will host the No. 6 seed Feb. 28. A win in the opening round home game will force SRU to play on the road in the second round.