Pitt-Johnstown earned a number of opportunities in the final minutes that could have swayed the outcome, including a golden one on the final possession, but Ryan Smith's baseline jumper just before the buzzer clanked harmlessly off the rim and sealed a crushing 73-72 loss to Indiana (Pa.) on Wednesday night in the Sports Center.

The Mountain Cats trailed by as many as eight early in the second half only to battle back and go up by six with less than seven minutes remaining. But it didn't hold up as they slipped to 5-11 (3-7 PSAC).

Nick Watts led the charge with a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds. Andy Zuchelli notched four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, five assists and four rebounds. 

Smith also added 18 points to pair with six rebounds. Will Kromka chipped in 12 points and grabbed six rebounds. The sophomore guard drilled a clutch 3-pointer from the left corner off a feed from Elijah Sechler that made it 73-72 with just 15 seconds to go.

Sechler fouled IUP's Garvin Clarke, who went to the line for a one-and-one situation with 10 seconds remaining. After a miss from Clarke, Watts snared the rebound and pushed it up to Smith, whose final shot bounced high enough off the rim to prevent any putback attempt.

It was Clarke's high-arcing floater with less than two minutes to play that broke a 67-all tie that gave the Crimson Hawks the lead for good. KJ Rhodes extended the lead to four, but Smith cut it back to two with a pair of free throws.

The Mountain Cats finished with a 47.5% (28 of 59) mark from the field and were 42.9% (9 for 21) from distance. They managed a 32-24 edge in points in the paint. The Crimson Hawks evened out the playing field by carving out a 40-34 rebounding advantage and forcing 12 Mountain Cat turnovers that led to 20 points.

Early struggles from the perimeter led to just 12 combined points and a 6-6 tie seven minutes into the first half. Smith's jumper put Pitt-Johnstown in front 64-58, its largest lead of the evening.

Clarke recorded a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds to pace IUP, which improved to 10-5 (7-2 PSAC).

Pitt-Johnstown hosts Slippery Rock on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off.