SLIPPERY ROCK — Lose to IUP, win the rest.

That formula worked last year for the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team. A 94-78 loss at Indiana was followed by eight consecutive wins and a trip to the PSAC semifinals.

"We need that to happen again, " SRU coach Kevin Reynolds said. "Our backs are against the wall."

The Rock (13-6, 2-4) suffered an 83-74 loss to IUP Saturday night at Morrow Field House. The defeat was the fourth in five games for SRU, with all four losses being by single-digit margins.

Slippery Rock's next three games are on the road — at California, Mercyhurst and Gannon.

"This is the toughest stretch on our schedule," Reynolds said. "We're hitting the road with a 2-4 record and we've already played four conference home games.

"This loss takes us out of the running for first place in the (PSAC) West. We're battling for one of the other three playoff spots now."

IUP (17-1, 6-0) is ranked No. 1 in the Atlantic Region and has just one loss all year — an 88-84 double-overtime verdict to Cheyney.

"We won the turnover battle by five and the rebounding by three," IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. "When a game is close like this, those are important numbers.

"We turned it over only twice last game (vs. California) and nine times tonight. We're taking care of the basketball."

And they're taking care of business.

The game was even at 28 with four minutes left in the first half before IUP used a 7-2 run to close the half. An 8-0 run to start the second half hiked the Crimson Hawks' lead to 43-30.

"Those two stretches ... That's where they separated the game. We had to climb uphill the rest of the night," Reynolds said.

The Rock nearly completed that climb. Trailing 78-70 with less than two minutes remain ing, SRU received two free throws from Cecil Brown and a layup from Maron Brown — following an IUP turnover — with 1:12 to play.

The Crimson Hawks had a 78-74 lead when Thomas Young stepped to the foul line with 36.5 seconds left. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Julian Sanders grabbed the offensive rebiound.

Kevin Stewart and Sanders sank two free throws each in the closing seconds to close out the win.

"We had the guy at the line we wanted," Reynolds said. "Young shoots 57 percent from there. When we missed the rebound, we missed the opportunity to give ourselves a chance to win.

"Stwart and Sanders are 88 and 85 percent foul shooters. They weren't gonna miss."

IUP placed four players in double figures, led by Darryl Webb's 22 points and 15 rebounds. Young contributed 19 points.

Jabril Bailey paced SRU with 26 points, including three treys. Maron Brown had 20 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Cecil Brown had 11 points and seven assists, Maurice Douglas 12 points on four treys.

"Bailey is an excellent player who gives you a matchup problem, especially when he's hitting 3's," Lombardi said. "We were a little shaky in that last minute or two, but we held on."

Notes: SRU missed its first 11 shots. ... The Rock honored its 1972-73 team at halftime. That squad advanced to the NAIA national tournament and had three All-Americans in Mark Balbach, Dennis Kopka and Owen Long. ... The Rock's next home game is Feb. 13 vs. Edinboro.

INDIANA 83Darryl Webb 7-14 7-8 22, Akida McLain 5-11 1-2 12, Kevin Stewart 1-3 2-2 4, Thomas Young 7-20 4-5 19, Ashton Smith 4-7 3-3 13, Julian Sanders 1-8 2-2 5, Willi Estrella 4-5 0-2 8.

Totals: 29-68 19-24 83.

SLIPPERY ROCK 74Maron Brown 7-12 5-5 20, Jabril Bailey 10-23 3-5 26, Cecil Brown 3-6 4-4 11, Mike Evans Jr. 1-6 0-0 2, Maurice Douglas 4-13 0-0 12, Gary Satterwhite 0-2 0-0 0, Andre Tarver 1-5 0-0 3, Jade Burka 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 26-67 12-14 74.

Halftime score: IUP 35, SRU 30

3-point goals: IUP 6 (Webb, McLain, Young, Smith 2, Sanders); SRU 10 (Brown, Bailey 3, Brown, Douglas 4, Tarver).

Wednesday: SRU at California (Pa.), 8 p.m.