SLIPPERY ROCK — The big crowd and atmosphere were in place.

Kevin Reynolds was not.

Playing without its head coach on the bench, Slippery Rock University’s men’s basketball team closed the regular season Wednesday night with a 69-55 loss to Indiana (Pa.) at Morrow Field House.

The loss was The Rock’s 12th in the past 13 meetings against IUP and only the team’s fifth loss in 29 home games over the past two years.

A near-capacity raucous crowd of 2,780 was on hand for the contest. Reynolds was absent because of a “personnel move we cannot discuss,” Rock sports information director Bob McComas said.

SRU athletic director Paul Lueken said he was not permitted to comment on the matter, but did say Reynolds would be back on the bench for Saturday’s 7 p.m. home PSAC Tournament game against Seton Hill.

Assistant coach Ian Grady ran the team Wednesday. Women’s assistant Bobby McGraw pulled double duty and assisted Grady.

“This isn’t the way I wanted this to turn out,” Grady said of his head coaching debut. “We were here to win this game. We expected to win.

“We can’t let the loss demoralize us or get us off track. It’s do or die from here on in and we have to be ready.”

The Rock (19-9, 10-6) led 5-2 in the first two minutes, then went more than seven minutes without scoring as IUP (23-3, 13-3) grabbed the lead and never lost it. The Crimson Hawks’ biggest lead was 64-48 with 4:13 left in the contest.

SRU had pulled within 41-40 with 13:24 to go, but was outscored 23-8 over the following nine minutes.

“This was a tremendous college basketball atmosphere and I commend Slippery Rock for creating it,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. “I was pleased with the way we handled it, making some big shots down the stretch.

“We don’t play in an atmosphere like this very often. We’re not used to it and we performed anyway. I had a bunch of timeouts, but had confidence in my guys even when they pulled within one on us. I figured we could pull out of it if we just kept playing.”

Mathis Keita paced IUP with 21 points. Jeremy Jeffers added 17 while point guard Devante Chance had 10 points, six assists and no turnovers.

“I don’t know who the MVP of this league is, but Devante is the MVP of our team,” Lombardi said. “We only had 11 turnovers as a team, just three or four with the ball actually in play. We had a few offensive fouls.”

Josh Martin paced The Rock with 18 points. Maurice Lewis-Briggs had 12 points and five boards after producing 29 points and 12 rebounds in a 66-64 loss at IUP earlier this season. Tabari Perry scored 10 points.

The Rock shot just 37 percent from the floor (22 of 59), were five of 19 from 3-point range and made only six of 13 free throws.

“The shots didn’t go down, but IUP plays great defense and deserves credit for that,” Grady said. “We had too many breakdowns inside, some miscommunications in there. That’s uncharacteristic of us.”

SRU was outrebounded 38-30, only the sixth time all season it failed to out-board the other team. Lewis-Briggs sank just four of 15 shots as The Rock missed numerous layups.

“We fronted him and doubled him, made him work for everything,” Lombardi said. “He earned what he got.”

SRU wound up as the No. 4 seed in the PSAC West for the upcoming tournament.

Indiana 75, SRU 48 (women) — The Rock never got out of the blocks in closing the season at 6-20 overall, 3-13 in PSAC play. IUP defeated SRU for the 15th consecutive time.

SRU sank only two of its first 11 shots and had 11 turnovers in falling behind 28-7 in the first 14 minutes. The Rock trailed 44-19 at halftime before getting as close as 16 with 4:08 left in the game.

“That is a top-level team that’s running its offense very well right now,” SRU coach Tanya Longo said of IUP. “If option 1’s not there, they go to option 2, then option 3 ... They were very difficult to defend.”

Amy Fairman paced four Crimson Hawks (17-9, 8-8) in double figures with 16 points. IUP had a 47-33 edge in rebounds and forced 19 turnovers.

Junior forward D’Asia Chambers paced The Rock with 17 points and 12 rebounds. She led the PSAC with 21.2 points per game this year in conference play.

“She was as good as anybody this year and produced incredibly consistent numbers without that second or third supporting player out there with her,” Longo said. “We need to fill in that supporting cast around her next year.

“I feel like those pieces are already here. We are a young team and I feel like we’re making strides.”

Megan Hardiman sank four treys and had 14 points for The Rock.

Longo’s husband, former SRU football offensive coordinator Phil Longo, recently accepted that position at Sam Houston State in Texas.

Longo said she plans to fulfill the final year of her current contract at The Rock.

“We’ll look at everything after next year, see what’s best for our family moving forward and go from there,” Longo said.

SRU said goodbye to seniors Jazmyne Frost and Katie Rathman. Frost averaged 14 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in her final season.

“They were leaders. They never quit, never gave up despite so many frustrating losses,” Longo said. “They set a great example that way and the others followed.”