INDIANA, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team lost at No. 4 Indiana University (Pa.), 73-60, Saturday in a late-season Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division contest.
 
The loss moves The Rock's record to 15-11 overall and 9-11 in the PSAC while the nationally ranked Crimson Hawks improve to 26-1 overall and 20-1 in league games.
 
Trailing 39-30 coming out of the halftime break, Slippery Rock opened the second half strong as it accounted for 13 of the first 17 points in the half to pull even with IUP at 43-43. Amante Britt scored five points over the run that spanned the first five minutes of the half.
 
However, a comeback road victory against the Crimson Hawks, which would have been SRU's first in Indiana since the 1991-92 season, was not to be as IUP answered Slippery Rock's run with a decisive 17-3 surge of its own over the following six minutes to give Indiana a 14-point advantage it would never relinquish on the way to its 73-60 win.
 
Lashon Lindsey led three Rock athletes in double figures Saturday as he closed the game with 13 points, four rebounds and one steal.
 
Khalid Gates recorded his sixth double-double of the season following a 12-point, 11-rebound, two-block, two-assist showing. Jomo Goings added 11 points as well as a pair of assists and one steal.
 
Britt, who made his 112th collegiate start Saturday to break the program record he previously shared with Myron Brown (1987-91), finished the game with eight points and one steal.  
 
Ahmad Galimore scored three points and blocked one shot, Jonathan McFall posted two rejections of his own and Nik Cazacu totaled five points over the final three minutes to round out SRU's top contributors.
 
While IUP was able to convert nearly 50 percent (28-of-57) of its field goal attempts, Slippery Rock could never quite find its touch Saturday as it shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field overall. Slippery Rock did have an excellent day at the foul line where it connected on 82.4 percent (14-of-17) of its attempts compared to a 12-of-17 day for Indiana.
 
Both teams closed the game committing just 10 turnovers. Indiana held a slight +6 (39-33) edge in rebounding.
 
Shawndale Jones scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and Tomiwa Sulaiman had 14 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals to lead the Crimson Hawks.
 
Slippery Rock opens the final week of the regular season 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 when it hosts Clarion at Morrow Field House. The Rock defeated the Golden Eagles, 86-66, on the road earlier in the season.




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