INDIANA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team lost to Indiana University (Pa.), 77-64, Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition.
 
Following a nearly even first half, IUP pulled away in the final 20 minutes by making 10 of its 15 3-point attempts in the second half.
 
The loss, just Slippery Rock's second setback in the last six games, moves SRU's record to 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the PSAC. Indiana improves to 13-5 overall and 10-2 in league contests with the win.
 
Jomo Goings and Maceo Austin paced The Rock's efforts Saturday as the duo combined to score 33 points and shoot 12-for-27 from the field. Goings compiled 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals while Austin went for 15 points and six rebounds.
 
The trio of Bobby Clifford, Ike Herster and Luke Howes scored eight points apiece with Clifford also coming off the bench to grab a team-high 10 rebounds in what was a near double-double effort.
 
Lashon Lindsey rounded out The Rock's top performers with a seven-point, nine-rebound, four-assist showing.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth game as neither team was able to establish clear dominance leading to Indiana taking a narrow 30-27 advantage into the halftime break. While Slippery Rock shot just 29 percent in the opening half it was able to turn 10 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points to keep the score close.
 
However, the second half belonged to the Crimson Hawks and particularly Bryce Radford, who virtually single-handedly shot The Rock out of the game.
 
Radford, who began his career at IUP before moving on to West Virginia Tech last season only to return to Indiana as a mid-year transfer this year, connected on seven of his eight 3-point attempts in the second half as he spurred on a Crimson Hawks attack which opened the period on an 18-6 run that Slippery Rock could never recover from in the eventual 13-point decision.  
 
As a team, Slippery Rock shot 39 percent (23-of-59) from the field overall, 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from 3-point range and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) at the foul line. SRU, the top rebounding team in the PSAC, left Indiana holding a +9 rebounding margin (40-31).
 
Indiana finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field overall including an impressive 14-for-28 showing from 3-point range. Radford scored a game-high 27 points courtesy of nine 3-pointers. Ethan Porterfield added a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds as well.
 
Slippery Rock has the chance to quickly bounce back from the loss as it will return to competition 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at Edinboro.




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