INDIANA — A furious second-half rally went for naught Saturday night as Slippery Rock University's men's basketball team dropped a 55-49 decision at Indiana (Pa.).

SRU (14-5, 11-4) would have pulled into a tie for first place in the PSAC West with a victory.

The Rock trailed 37-20 with 14:09 to play before going on a 22-4 run to take a 42-41 lead with 2:47 remaining. IUP's Mathis Keita responded with a layup 13 seconds later to key an 8-0 run and the Crimson Hawks never trailed again.

IUP (17-2, 13-2), ranked eighth in NCAA Division II, won its ninth straight game.

The Rock ultimately paid dearly for a frigid first half, sinking but five of 26 field goal attempts and turning the ball over 16 times. IUP had a 26-14 lead at intermission.

Devin Taylor paced SRU with 17 points and added five rebounds. Tabari Perry had 11 points and grabbed seven boards while Gerald Brooks contributed 10 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

Anthony Wells paced a balanced Crimson Hawk attack with 14 points. Devante Chance added 11 while Scooter Renkin pitched in with 10 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

The Rock held a 54-29 edge in rebounding.

Three of SRU's next four games will be at Morrow Field House, including Wednesday night against Clarion.

IUP 77, SRU 48 — The Rock (4-15, 3-12) dropped its sixth straight game, falling behind 41-19 by halftime.D'Asia Chambers paced SRU with 10 points and added six rebounds. Erinne Cunningham had eight points, six rebounds and six assists, Erica Aiello eight points.Lindsay Stamp led the Crimson Hawks with 24 points and six rebounds.

The Slippery Rock University men's track and field team placed third at the NCAA Division II Team Challenge Saturday.Cameron Daugherty cleared 5.08 meters in the pole vault, just shy of his season-best mark of 5.10 meters, to win the event.Kevin Jewel also claimed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1 minutes, 54.74 seconds.Tiffin won the team title with 93.5 points. The Rock was the top placer among PSAC schools.Slippery Rock High graduate Ethan Geisler qualified for the PSAC meet with a time of 8.81 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.On the women's side, The Rock placed ninth.Freshman Ashley West won the high jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying performance of 1.74 meters. The mark is the best in the PSAC this season and ranks third in the nation.Another freshman, Kaitlyn Clark, won the pole vault with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 3.65 meters.