ERIE, Pa. -- Slippery Rock used a 41-27 advantage on the glass and posted a 19-6 run midway through the second half to defeat Mercyhurst, 68-53, in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division opener for both squads.
The Rock improves to 10-4 overall while the Lakers fall to 12-2 on the year.
Both teams came out firing at the start, with SRU nailing its first four shots, all 3-pointers, to take a 12-11 at the 14:03 mark, and The Rock would continue its hot shooting as they used a 13-5 run to build a 25-16 advantage with 6:57 remaining in the first half.
However, the Lakers then used a 12-5 run of their own behind six of 12 first-half points from
Brian McTear and six of eight total points from
Elliot Engelmann to cut the deficit to just two points heading into halftime.
After halftime, Mercyhurst regained the lead on a layup by
Jordan Armstrong to make it 33-31 with just over 16 minutes to play. From there, the two teams kept within striking distance until SRU's Denell Stephens layup with 7:29 remaining gave The Rock its first double-digit lead of the game. Stephens finished with game-highs in points and rebounds, collecting 20 points and 18 rebounds while also adding another game-high with four blocks.
In the tale of the tape, The Rock shot 40.7 percent from the field (24-of-59) while the Lakers hit 17-of-49 (34.7 percent). From the charity stripe, SRU hit 83.8 percent (10-of-12) while Mercyhurst hit 9-of-14 (64.5 percent).
Two Lakers just missed out on double-digit efforts as
Jordan Armstrong and
Nnamdi Nnadili each added nine points while
Jeremiah Wise and
Stu Anglum posted six points each. Armstrong led the Lakers with five boards while McTear dished out a team-high five helpers.
Leaders for The Rock included Kyle Camper's double-double (10 points, 12 assists), 18 tallies for Maurice Douglas and 16 markers for Michael Evans, Jr.
Next up for Mercyhurst is a three-game road swing, beginning with IUP on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and followed by at Edinboro next Wednesday, Jan. 21 and at Lock Haven on Saturday, 24. The Lakers return home on two weeks from today to face Clarion in a double-header, beginning with the women's game at 5:30 p.m.
