INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team saw its 10-game winning streak snapped with an 89-85 loss on the road at Indiana University (Pa.) Monday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division.
 
Slippery Rock drops to 12-3 overall and 6-3 in PSAC games with the loss while Indiana increases its lead in the division and improves to 11-4 overall and 7-1 in PSAC action.
 
The Rock outscored IUP 68-59 from the floor Monday night but couldn't overcome 30 points from the free throw line by the hosts. The Crimson Hawks finished the night 30-of-36 at the charity stripe, knocking down more free throws than SRU took in the game (17-of-27).
 
Despite the advantage at the free throw line for IUP, the decisive moment in the game was a five-minute stretch early in the second half. The Rock trailed by just two points before going 0-for-10 and watching Indiana make six straight field goals on their end to put together a 15-0 run that made it 57-40 with just over 14 minutes to play.
 
Foul trouble set in for Slippery Rock midway through the second half, but despite rotating players The Rock hung around and clawed back into the game. Micah Till knocked down three free throws after being fouled behind the arc and Till and Aaron McDonald split free throws after Indiana was called for back-to-back flagrant and technical fouls with just under nine seconds to go. Till then hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but SRU came up just short in the comeback attempt.
 
Slippery Rock took seven of its 27 free throws in the final 33 seconds in part thanks to the late fouls. The Rock finished the night shooting 40 percent from the field (30-of-75), 36.4 percent from 3-point (8-of-22) and 63.0 percent from the free throw line (17-of-27). SRU posted a 41-34 edge in rebounding and turned 21 offensive rebounds into an 18-2 advantage in second chance points.
 
Indiana finished the game shooting 48.1 percent from the field (25-of-52), 42.9 percent from 3-point (9-of-21) and 83.3 percent at the free throw line (30-of-36).
 
Till led The Rock with his 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds despite fighting through foul trouble for most of the second half.
 
McDonald added 16 points, while Bruce Spruell chipped in 13 points and seven assists and Christal Malalu scored 12 points.
 
Brandon Simmons tallied eight points, six rebounds and three blocked shots to lead The Rock to a total of eight blocks in the game.
 
Indiana was paced by Anthony Glover, who was 12-of-12 at the free throw line and hit six 3-pointers on his way to a 34-point showing. Jacobo Diaz added 23 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock's 10-game winning streak was its longest since the 2008-09 season and matched the fourth longest streak in program history. The Rock will look to get back into the win column when they travel to Clarion Wednesday night.
 

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