SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- The sixth-seeded Mercyhurst men's basketball team suffered a 61-58 loss to three-seed Slippery Rock in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament first-round game on Monday.

Lorenzo Collier was the Lakers' leading scorer, finishing with 13 points. Connor Polce added 12 points and Dontae Williams hauled down 14 rebounds.

For SRU (21-8), Micah Till led the way with a double-double consisting of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Bruce Spruell chipped in with 12 points.

Mercyhurst (13-14) took the early command, using an 8-2 run to build a 15-7 first-half lead. Collier buried a pair of three-pointers during the early stretch.

The Lakers led by as many as nine before taking a 25-21 lead into halftime. Neither squad shot the ball well in the opening period as both teams were under 25 percent from the field.

MU held an eight-point lead in the second half before Slippery Rock wen on an 11-point lead, getting five points from Till and four from Spruell, to take a 38-35 lead.

Mercyhurst's Patrick Smith finally quelled the Rock's run with a trey to knot the contest at 38-all with 12 minutes to play. At that point, host SRU went on a 10-2 run to take a 48-40 lead. All 10 points of that streak were bucketed by Till.

The Lakers pulled within three points on three different occasions after that. During the final time Mercyhurst faced a three-point deficit, it had possession, but the Rock's stifling defense prevented any attempt at a game-tying field-goal attempt.

Mercyhurst finished 19 of 67 from the field (28.4 percent), including 8 of 23 from three-point range (34.8). The Lakers were 12 of 13 from the free-throw line (92.3). SRU was 21 of 53 (39.6), 2 of 14 (14.3) and 17 of 25 (68.0), respectively.

Slippery Rock held a 45-41 rebound advantage.