SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end Friday night with a 65-50 loss to No. 16 Indiana University (Pa.) in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
The teams posted nearly identical statistical numbers through the first 30 minutes of the game, but Slippery Rock went cold down the stretch and shot under 30 percent in the second half, allowing the Crimson Hawks to pull away late.
 
The biggest difference on the final box score was the Crimson Hawks' ability to connect from beyond the 3-point arc, as nearly half of their made field goals in the game, 8-of-20, came from long range. On the other side of the floor, Slippery Rock managed just three made 3-pointers.
 
The victory improves Indiana to 12-2 overall and keeps the Crimson Hawks in first place in the PSAC West with a 7-1 league record. Slippery Rock drops to 9-5 overall and remains in second place in the PSAC West at 5-3. Four of The Rock's five losses on the season have now come to teams ranked in the top 19 in this week's national poll (No. 8 Wheeling Jesuit, No. 14 Shippensburg, No. 16 Indiana and No. 19 Kutztown).
 
The two teams traded short runs early in the first half until Slippery Rock led 26-25 with 2:45 to play in the period. From there, Indiana put together a 7-0 run and closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 32-28 lead into the break.
 
The Rock cut that deficit back to one point at 35-34 just over three minutes into the second half, but Indiana knocked down another 3-pointer to ignite a 7-0 run to push the advantage back out to eight points, 42-34 with 14:09 to play. SRU cut the margin to five points after a layup and a free throw from Khyree Wooten, but went cold from there as the Crimson Hawks pulled away late.
 
Slippery Rock shot 37 percent from the floor (17-of-46) for the game after shooting 44 percent in the first half and just 28.6 percent in the second half. The Rock were 18.8 percent from 3-point (3-of-16) and 68.4 percent at the free throw line (13-of-19). SRU posted a 22-12 edge in points in the paint, but the visitors managed advantages of 14-4 in points off turnovers and 28-10 in bench scoring.
 
Indiana shot 41.7 percent from the field (20-of-48), 36.4 percent from 3-point (8-of-22) and 89.5 percent at the free throw line (17-of-19). Both teams managed 30 total rebounds in the game, marking the first time this season that any team has managed to stay even with SRU on the glass.
 
Naquil Jones paced The Rock with 16 points, including a 7-of-8 showing at the free throw line. He made his first five attempts from the charity stripe to extend his streak to 24 straight made free throws over a five-game stretch, but he missed his sixth attempt of the night. Jones also pulled down four rebounds and had two assists.
 
Merdic Green scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds as the only other SRU player in double figures. Wooten added nine points and Jordan Marrow scored six points. George Chase made his return to the lineup after missing the last six games and led SRU with six rebounds, while also scoring three points.
 
Indiana was led by Dante Lombardi with a game-high 19 points that included three 3-pointers and a 6-of-6 showing at the free throw line. Blake Danielak added 15 points and three 3-pointers off the bench to cap the four total players in the game that reached double figures.
 
Friday night's game was played in front of a smaller crowd than the rivalry game typically draws due to the SRU students still being on semester break.
 
Slippery Rock will have little time to bounce back from its first loss since Nov. 25 as The Rock will travel to California (Pa.) Monday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip.