SLIPPERY ROCK — When his coach talks, Cornelius Brown listens.

The Slippery Rock University senior center proved as much Saturday night, dominating the second half in The Rock's come-from-behind 73-61 men's basketball win over rival Indiana at Morrow Field House.

Brown had four points and five rebounds in the first half as SRU (14-11, 9-10) trailed 33-23 at intermission. He tallied 23 points and 17 boards for the night as The Rock outscored the Crimson Hawks 50-28 in the second half.

“Coach told me I had to be more aggressive, I needed to get after it,” Brown said. “We needed to rebound more as a team and that starts with me.”

PSAC West leader IUP (19-6, 6-4) had its 13-game winning streak snapped. The Crimson Hawks lost for the first time since Dec. 12.

“We hadn't lost a game in two months,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. “Winning softens you up. When that happens, you lose your edge.

“They outrebounded us by 18 here last year. They did it by 16 tonight. It's hard to win that way.”

Malcolm Richardson had 19 points, Abdul King 10 points and six rebounds for The Rock, which has won six of eight.

“We're playing a lot better lately,” SRU coach Kevin Reynolds said. “Everybody we put on the court tonight played well.

“Clearly, this is a big win for us. But we have to keep on winning. We've got work left to do, but getting this win against the division leader will help us in tiebreakers.”

SRU is tied for fifth in the PSAC West, half a game in front of Clarion. The Rock hosts Clarion on Wednesday.

The top six teams in the PSAC East and West Divisions make the conference tournament.

“Our next two are at home and we've been good at home,” Reynolds said. “We've won 80 percent of our home games since I've been here. That's the best in the conference.”

The Rock is 90-22 at home since the 2008-09 season, the year Reynolds arrived.

Brandon Norfleet, the PSAC's leading scorer, had 22 points and four assists for IUP before fouling out with 1:40 left. Dante Lombardi scored 18 points off the bench.

Daddy Ugbede, another key player in the Crimson Hawks' lineup, fouled out with 3:06 to play.

“This wasn't one of our better games mentally,” Lombardi said. “Brandon took a couple of cheap fouls that cost him time on the court. They weren't bad calls. He just has to play smarter than that.”

Indiana 90, Slippery Rock (women) 75 — The Rock (11-14, 7-12) dropped its fourth straight game and has faded from the PSAC playoff picture.

“We need to win our last three and Mercyhurst needs to lose out, then we still need help,” admitted SRU coach Bobby McGraw, a Mars graduate. “Regardless, if we win our last three, we finish at .500 and that would be the first non-losing season here since 2001-02. That's an important step.”

IUP (18-6, 15-5), contending for the PSAC West title, struggled with The Rock much of the night. The score was tied eight times, the last at 55-55 as Ciara Patterson hit a trey with 1:52 left in the third quarter.

The Crimson Hawks pulled away from there, however, scoring 31 points in the fourth quarter. The 90 points are the most SRU has allowed in a game all season.

Leslie Stapleton had 28 points for Indiana. Megan Smith had 25 points and 12 rebounds, Zhane Brooks 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“They are all great players,” McGraw said. “We're still missing a couple of pieces yet and we're really missing Audrey Stapleton since she went out.”

Stapleton, averaging 10.7 points per game, tore her ACL three games ago.

Lexi Carpenter paced The Rock with 26 points and six assists. Patterson had 20 points, Megan Hardiman 13. SRU was outrebounded 45-27 and gave up 23 second-chance points.

“That's where the game was lost,” McGraw said of the rebounding. “Our 3-point shooting and foul shooting were uncharacteristic of us today, too.”

SRU is second in the PSAC with 164 treys, but hit just five of 21 from beyond the arc Saturday. The Rock leads the league in free throw shooting percentage at 76.7, but hit just 14 of 21 against IUP.

The Crimson Hawks defeated SRU for the 19th consecutive time. The Rock has not defeated IUP since 2007.

“Both games were competitive this year,” McGraw said. “I feel like we're closing the gap.”