After a 68-59 victory over East Stroudsburg University on Friday night in the semifinal action of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament, the Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team fell to Indiana University of Pa. 52-46 in a low-scoring championship game on Saturday at IUP’s Kovalchick Complex.
Josh Weigand led the Crimson Hawks with 15 points and seven rebounds to lead the team to its third conference championship in the last four season. Anthony Wells contributed 10 points and five rebounds, while Mathis Keita had nine points and eight boards to aid the winning team.
With the championship win, IUP won an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional tournament that starts next weekend.
Senior Devin Taylor led the Rock with 14 points and six rebounds.
Junior Tabari Perry added 10 points and senior Gerald Brooks scored nine points and had five boards.
The Green and White shot pitifully, making only 29 percent (15 of 52) from the field, four of 16 from 3-point range, and 12 of 16 from the foul line.
IUP became only the fourth team to outrebound the Rock this season, narrowly outboarding SRU 37-36.
Slippery Rock will now anxiously wait until 10:30 on Sunday night to see if they are invited to the eight-team NCAA tourney. As of last Wednesday, SRU was not in the top ten teams in the regional rankings, but wins against Gannon last Tuesday and East Stroudsburg on Friday, may be enough to punch the ticket for the Rock.
