INDIANA — The Rock was slipping up. The game was slipping away.

East Stroudsburg had used three consecutive steals to trim a 12-point deficit with 3:08 to play down to a six-point gap, 58-52, against Slippery Rock with 2:17 remaining in their PSAC men’s basketball semifinal game Friday night at the Kovalchick Complex.

“We only made six field goals in the first half, so we couldn’t get into our press defense,” East Stroudsburg coach Jeff Wilson said. “We began getting to the foul line late in this game and were able to set up some pressure.

“Our guys never quit ... and we had time.”

Enter Gerald Brooks.

SRU’s 6-foot-5 senior forward drove the right baseline, was fouled and laid in a shot with one second left on the shot clock. He sank the free throw for a 61-52 lead with 1:41 remaining.

The Warriors never got as close as six points again.

“A big play?” SRU coach Kevin Reynolds repeated when posed the question. “That was a huge play.

“Plays like that are why we got him.”

Brooks, a former IUP player, enrolled at SRU this academic year and joined The Rock after not playing basketball for a couple of years.

“I missed playing. I’m a resilient guy and I wanted to get to the championship game,” Brooks said. “I’ve been thinking about it.”

His 3-point play helped make it happen.

“I saw how much time was on the shot clock and figured I could get room going to the rim,” Brooks said. “It didn’t matter if anyone got in front of me. That shot was going in.”

Wilson said East Stroudsburg’s aggressive defensive mode cost the Warriors on the play.

“It’s hard to fight natural reaction sometimes,” the coach said. “We were going for steals, trying to swat the ball ... if we hang back there and just play solid defense, we probably get the ball back.”

Not to be.

“The trapezoid-type scoreboard here had the shot clock by the backboard and at different angles so Gerald had a good look at it,” Reynolds said. “If this game was at Morrow (SRU’s home floor), he wouldn’t have known how much time was left.

“I guess we made this place our home-court advantage on that play.”