No. 10 Indiana (Pa.) 53, Slippery Rock 50
No. 3 seed Indiana, Pa. (26-5) survived a late Slippery Rock (23-9) rally to earn its third trip to the Atlantic Region championship game in the past four seasons.
A jumper by The Rock’s Gerald Brooks forged the final tie of the game, 38-38, with 7:15 remaining but IUP’s defense took center stage over the next 6 minutes.
Anthony Wells’ driving layup with just 1:01 remaining capped an 11-3 surge for the Crimson Hawks and gave the nationally-ranked PSAC champs their largest lead of the game, 49-41.
Slippery Rock, which had rallied from a late deficit to upset No. 2 seed Winston-Salem State in the quarterfinals, nearly pulled off another improbable rally.
After Sa’Quan Davis hit a runner with 18 seconds left to trim the deficit to 52-47, IUP turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass.
The Rock’s Devin Taylor drained his only 3-point attempt of the game to make it a one-possession game, 52-50, with 16.7 ticks showing.
Indiana’s Scooter Renkin made just 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled with 12.7 seconds remaining, keeping Slippery Rock’s hopes alive, but The Rock was unable to get off a 3-point shot before the buzzer as IUP came up with one last defensive stand.
Marcel Souberbielle led all scorers for Indiana with 15 points while Wells finished with 14 and Renkin tossed in 11. Darious Clark topped Slippery Rock with 12 points while Brooks was SRU’s only other double-figure scorer with 11.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament
(at West Liberty, W.Va.)
Saturday, March 16
Regional Quarterfinals
Afternoon Session
Indiana, Pa. 76, East Stroudsburg 68
Slippery Rock 69, Winston-Salem State 67
Evening Session
WEST LIBERTY 114, Bowie State 82
Fairmont State 91, Livingstone 73
Sunday, March 17
Regional Semifinals
Indiana, Pa. 53, Slippery Rock 50
No. 1 WEST LIBERTY (31-1) vs. Fairmont State (23-8), 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 19
Regional Championship
No. 3 Indiana, Pa. (26-5) vs. WEST LIBERTY/Fairmont State winner, 7 p.m.
