Box Score
INDIANA, PA – Senior Mathis Keita (Thionville, France/Insep) sunk a contested layup with just 2.3 seconds left, giving IUP its 25th straight home victory over Slippery Rock, 66-64.

The game was close from the get go, with 12 ties and eight lead changes. Neither team was able to get up by nine points.

Fouls plagued Slippery Rock, as they allowed the Crimson Hawks to go 27-of-34 from the charity stripe.

Through the first five minutes of play, neither team got up by more than two points. The Rock gained some momentum, going on an 8-0 run to take the eight-point advantage with 13:16 to go. IUP answered following a three from Marcel Souberbielle (Montevideo, Uruguay/Uruguayan American School) and three free throws and a triple from Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C./Greenfield School).

The Crimson Hawks offense ignited with just under eight minutes to go, as they went on a 8-2 run to take the six-point lead. The two teams would exchange baskets over the next few minutes with IUP holding the two-point advantage with under a minute to go.

Slippery Rock's Sa'Quan Davis made a last second layup to send the teams into the break tied 32-32.

Slippery Rock came out fast to start the second half, getting up by as much as nine with 14:42 to play. The nation's 15th-ranked team responded, going on a 7-0 run to pull within two. The Crimson Hawks were able to tie the game following a jumper from redshirt freshman Cornell Yarde II (Reading, Pa. /Schuylkill Valley) with 9:18 to go.

A 10-1 run from IUP gave them the five-point advantage with just under eight minutes to go. However, true to the game, Slippery Rock would claw their way back in, tying things at 59-59 with 5:09 to play.

With 23 seconds remaining, Keita sunk a pair of free throws to give the Crimson Hawks the three-point lead. Norfleet was then called for his fifth foul of the game, while Slippery Rock's Matej Delinac was shooting a three, sending him to the line for three shots. He made all three, tying things up 64-64 with 14 seconds to go.

With just seconds to go and possession of the ball, Devante Chance (Philadelphia, Pa. /Electrical & Technology Charter) drove down the right side of the court, cut under the hoop and found Keita in front of the bucket. Keita shot the ball over the Slippery Rock defender's head and, with just 2.3 seconds remaining, gave IUP the two-point lead.

Slippery Rock's Tabari Perry threw up a three in a last ditch effort, but it was no good, as the Crimson Hawks came away with the 66-64 win.

Souberbielle led the way for the Crimson Hawks, recording 20 points and nine rebounds. He is just 10 points away from 1,000 for his career. Keita finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal and Chance also added 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, one block and two steals.

Jeffers added eight points and six rebounds and Yarde finished with eight points, three rebounds, one assist and one block.

The win sends the Crimson Hawks back to the top of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West standings, in a four-way tie with Mercyhurst, Gannon and Slippery Rock. IUP improves to 15-2, 6-2 on the season, ranked 15th in the nation.

Both teams kept the turnovers low, with IUP committing 11 and Slippery Rock committing nine. Rebounds were tied at 35, an impressive statistic considering Slippery Rock entered the game with a conference-high +12.0 rebounding margin.

Despite shooting just 28.0 percent in the first half, the Crimson Hawks finished the game 34.0 percent from the floor and 31.8 percent from three-point range. With the PSAC's top three-point field goal percentage defense, IUP allowed Slippery Rock to shoot just 18.8 percent from behind the arc.

Slippery Rock finished the game shooting 41.9 percent from the floor, but committed 23 personal fouls, allowing the Crimson Hawks to score 27 of their 66 points from the charity stripe. IUP committed just 17 fouls, allowing Slippery Rock to score just nine points from the free throw line.

The Crimson Hawks will hit the road, traveling to Pitt-Johnstown for a Wednesday night matchup with the Mountain Cats. IUP won the first meeting 76-62 in November.

The Mountain Cats are 10-8, 3-5 on the season, in the midst of a three-game losing streak with losses coming against Mercyhurst, Gannon and Seton Hill. They're averaging 76.2 points per game, third in the PSAC, while giving up 70.1. They have the conference's top field goal percentage, connecting on 47.5 percent of shots from the floor.

Things are set to get underway from Johnstown at 7:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks will return home for two games, taking on Clarion and Seton Hill Feb. 1 and Feb. 8.