SLIPPERY ROCK— Slippery Rock University's basketball season didn't end quietly. But it ended nonetheless.

SRU's hopes of attaining its first PSAC men's basketball tournament berth since 2000 were dashed by a 93-90 overtime loss to Clarion in the regular season finale Saturday at Morrow Fieldhouse.

"In a situation like this, you want your team to leave everything out on the floor and that's what they did,"SRU coach Jamal Palmer said.

Needing a win Saturday afternoon and an Indiana loss to Lock Haven Saturday night to qualify for postseason play, The Rock (7-20, 4-8) received neither. IUP scored a 63-48 victory.

SRU led by as many as 14 (50-36) with 15:40 left in the game and had a nine-point bulge (62-53) with 8:50 to play, but couldn't hold it.

The Golden Eagles (16-11, 7-5) took their first lead since the game's opening seconds when Ricky Henderson sank a pair of free throws for a 71-69 edge with 2:40 left.

Clarion's win was seemingly iced when Josh Yanke's free throw made it 76-72 with 21 seconds to go. SRU's Matt Schaefer drained a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and The Rock fouled Lonnell Jones with 9.1 ticks on the clock.

Jones nailed both free throws, but Schaefer's jumper from well beyond the arc at the buzzer found the net and forced overtime.

"We hit clutch shots when we needed to," Palmer said. "They just wound up making one more play than we did."

SRU stayed close in overtime despite losing three players — Cory Somerville, Joseph Vines and Butler's Jade Burka — to fouls.

A Schaefer lay-up tied the game at 88 with a minute to play, but Demetrius Graham answered with an eight-footer and Clarion stole the ball with 12 seconds left. Two free throws by Graham increased the Eagles' lead to 92-88 with 10 seconds left.

Jamar Scales — playing his last game for The Rock — quickly hit a lay-up and SRUfouled Graham with 1.9 seconds to go. Graham hit one of two free throws for a 93-90 lead.

Darnell Johnson tossed the ball toward the basket from well beyond halfcourt at the buzzer. The ball bounced off the rim, ending the game.

"Even that shot almost went in,"Palmer said. "We're not quite there yet, but we're ready to turn the corner."

SRU lost despite placing six players in double figures. The Rock did not defeat a team with a winning record this season.

Scales ended his Rock career with 907 points and 321 rebounds in 81 games.

Clarion 73, Slippery Rock 54 (women) — SRU(7-20, 1-11) ended the season with a 10-game losing streak and the program's worst record since the 1996-97 campaign (2-23,0-12)."We have the players here to get it done," coach Laurel Heilman said. "We just didn't play well this year."SRU lost numerous players to injuries this season as KellyAnn Staudinger and Amanda Nero were the only two players to start every game.The Rock scored only 18 points in the first half and trailed by as many as 26 midway through the second half."This was our last game and it should have been easy to go all out with a big effort today," Heilman said. "What I saw wasn't what I expected."Nero scored 14 points and Staudinger — one of four seniors playing her final game at SRU— had 13 points. Staudinger played in 102 games at The Rock, scoring 584 points and adding 339 rebounds."She gave her best every game and was a consistent player,"Heilman said. "I always knew what I was going to get from her. That type of player is a coach's dream."Also leaving The Rock are Nijha McNeely, Dana Stewart and Kara Spagnola. Spagnola, a Seneca Valley graduate, battled knee injuries during her college career and had 31 points, 49 assists and 42 rebounds in 42 games, all coming off the bench.Katrina Greer scored her 1,000th point for Clarion Saturday, becoming the 14th player in the program's history to reach that milestone and joining teammate Jessica Albanese in doing so this year.Union graduate Bethany Koch, a sophomore guard, scored eight points and had five assists coming off the bench for Clarion.

MenCLARION 93Damon Gross 1-2 0-0 2, Lonnell Jones 1-4 6-7 8, Demetrius Graham 2-10 5-6 9, Mike Sherry 7-14 0-0 19, Ricky Henderson 6-9 6-9 18, Ron Hollis 4-5 0-0 9, Lamar Richburg 6-9 2-3 14, David Blanks 1-3 0-0 3, Josh Yanke 2-8 7-10 11. Totals: 30-64 26-35 93

SLIPPERY ROCK 90Matt Schaefer 4-9 1-1 12, Italy Levy 7-14 1-2 19, Jamar Scales 6-11 0-0 12, Cory Somerville 1-1 0-2 2, Erroll Robinson 7-15 1-3 15, Rashiid Coleman 1-4 0-0 3, Darnell Johnson 3-4 3-6 12, Joseph Vines 4-6 6-10 14, Lonnie Perry 0-0 0-0 0, Jade Burka 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 33-65 13-26 90

Clarion 26 52 15 —93Slippery Rock 35 43 12 —903-point goals: Sherry 5, Hollis, Blanks; Schaefer 3, Levy 4, Coleman, Johnson 3

WomenCLARION 73Ashley Grimm 5-6 0-0 13, Jessica Albanese 6-12 2-2 14, Katrina Greer 3-6 2-2 8, Shaina Smith 2-6 0-0 5, Sara Pratt 2-7 3-4 7, Ann Stinson 0-0 0-0 0, Chelsey Grabigel 0-1 2-4 2, Bethany Koch 4-6 0-0 8, Sarah Fries 0-0 0-0 0, Lizzie Suwala 2-9 0-0 4, Janelle Zabresky 6-8 0-0 12. Totals: 30-61 9-12 73

SLIPPERY ROCK 54Amanda Nero 5-10 2-2 14, Julie Molloy 3-5 0-0 6, Nikki Presto 3-5 0-0 6, Alissa Schake 1-1 1-2 3, Renee Watson 0-2 0-0 0, Haley Gaidosh 2-7 0-0 4, Dana Stewart 0-2 0-0 0, Sandra Busser 2-6 0-0 4, KellyAnn Staudinger 4-14 5-6 13, Colleen Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Robin Vlah 0-0 0-0 0, Nijha McNeely 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 21-55 10-12 54

Clarion 31 42 —73Slippery Rock 18 36 —543-point goals: Grimm 3, Smith; Nero 2