Traditional Box Score

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team made nine 3-pointers and held off a pesky Edinboro University team to earn a 64-60 victory in the opening round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament Saturday night at Morrow Field House.
 
The win improves The Rock to 20-9 on the season and gives head coach Kevin Reynolds his fifth 20-win season in the last seven years. Saturday night was also home game No. 100 at Morrow Field House for Reynolds, who improved to 81-19 (.810) at home in his career as The Rock closed the home portion of their 2014-15 schedule at 13-1.
 
Slippery Rock will now advance to the PSAC quarterfinals Tuesday night at Gannon at 7 p.m. The Rock and the Golden Knights have met in each of the last two PSAC quarterfinals. Last year, Gannon came away with a double overtime 73-69 victory. Two years ago, Slippery Rock emerged with a 62-58 single overtime win.
 
Saturday night's win was also crucial to Slippery Rock's hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Rock were ranked seventh in the Atlantic Region this week and have won both of their games since that ranking came out. A win Tuesday night at Gannon, ranked third in the region, would likely guarantee SRU of a third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years.
 
Edinboro finished its season with a 14-13 overall record after dropping its sixth straight meeting between the two teams and seventh consecutive road game to Slippery Rock.
 
The key to the game for Slippery Rock Saturday night was different than almost every other win this season, as the nation's leading rebounders were actually outrebounded 43-30 and held to just six offensive rebounds. Instead, The Rock used the long ball to earn the victory, shooting 47.4 percent from beyond the 3-point line and knocking down 9-of-19 attempts from long range.
 
Edinboro made just 3-of-15 (20 percent) shots from beyond the 3-point arc and was held to just 33.9 percent shooting in the game (21-of-62). The Fighting Scots stayed in the game by knocking down 15-of-19 free throws (78.9 percent).
 
Slippery Rock shot 41.5 percent from the field (22-of-53), one of its better performances in the last month. The Rock were 68.8 percent from the free throw line (11-of-16) and turned the ball over just 11 times. The hosts also showed their depth by outscoring Edinboro's bench by a 27-2 margin.
 
Antonio Butler scored in double figures for the 21st straight game and finished with a team-high 19 points to lead Slippery Rock, but it was Desma Nicholson that gave the team its spark early. Nicholson came off the bench in the first half and knocked down his first five attempts, all 3-pointers, and nearly hit a sixth at the buzzer to score 15 points in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Frank Holloway added eight points and seven rebounds. Erik Raleigh chipped in six points and Chaquille Pratt added five points.
 
Henri Wade-Chatman led Edinboro with 20 points, while Will Marrow added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Jaymon Mason added 14 points and Casey Baker pulled down 10 rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 35-26 halftime lead after shooting 54.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes and holding Edinboro to 34.5 percent.
 
The Rock never trailed in the second half, but a pesky Fighting Scot team never went away either. After falling behind by 10 points early in the second half, Edinboro put together a rally to tie the game at 48-48 with 9:52 to play.
 
From there, Slippery Rock went on a 10-0 run that was keyed by another pair of big 3-pointers to open up a 58-48 lead with 7:53 to play. Edinboro would cut it two points with 32 seconds to play, but The Rock made their free throws in the final minute and held off the charge.
 
Slippery Rock is playing in at least the quarterfinal round of the PSAC tournament for the fifth time in the last seven years. The Rock are looking to get through to the semifinals for the first time since the 2012-13 season. SRU advanced to the league title game in 2012-13 and in 2010-11, but has not been able to win the league trophy since 1963.