SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Rock suffered its seventh straight loss Saturday afternoon as visiting Bloomsburg handed SRU a 60-53 setback in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" action in Morrow Field House.

The Rock (2-11) will look to end its skid Sunday when it hosts Mansfield in a 1 p.m. game in the Field House.

Freshman post player Cory Somerville recorded team-high totals of 16 points and nine rebounds Saturday for SRU, while junior wing Erroll Robinson chipped in 11 points, junior wing Jamar Scales nine points and six rebounds and senior post Ken Ottrix seven points and six rebounds.

Nick Jones scored a game-high 24 points for Bloomsburg (8-5).

 

The story Saturday was a familiar one for The Rock and its fans: SRU showed signs of taking control of the game but never truly gained the upper hand.

The first half was a perfect example, as SRU  parlayed a pair of scoring rallies to leads early and then late in the opening 20 minutes.

 

The Rock scored the first seven points of the game, only to see Bloomsburg respond with a 10-2 run to take a 10-9 lead with 12:30 left before halftime.

 

Three minutes later, the Huskies held a 14-13 edge, only to see The Rock respond with 11 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead with 3:30 left in the first half.

 

The Rock held a nine-point, 29-20, lead at halftime with Somerville accounting for almost half the hosts' points with 14 tallies.

 

SRU shot a hot 57.1% (12 of 21) from the field in the opening half, hit one of four shots from 3-point range and made 57.1% (4 of 7) from the foul line.

 

The Rock held a 16-13 rebounding advantage in the first 20 minutes of action.

 

Bloomsburg regrouped at halftime and scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half to trim The Rock lead to one point, 31-30, with 14:30 left to play.

 

The tide quickly turned – twice -- as The Rock ran off nine unanswered points to push the advantage to 10 points, 40-30, with 12 minutes remaining.

 

Bloomsburg came right back to score 22 of the next 29 points and took a 52-47 lead with four minutes left.

 

The Huskies, who scored 30 points in the first 38 minutes and 30 more in the final 12 minutes, never led by less than three points thereafter.

The Rock finished the game shooting 39.2% (20 of 51) from the floor after hitting a frigid 26.7% (8 of 30) in the second half.

SRU made only two of 12 shots (16.7%) from 3-point range and hit a moderate 61.1% (11 of 18) free throws.

The Rock won the rebounding battle by a 34-31 margin and had 17 turnovers compared to Bloomsburg's 15.