Boxscore

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – Junior guard Jabril Bailey recorded a 23-point, 10-rebound “double-double” Monday night to lead unbeaten (8-0) Slippery Rock University to an 87-84 win over upset-minded Shepherd (1-6) in NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional men's basketball action.

The win wasn't secure until The Rock sank five of six free throws in the final 30 seconds. Sophomore guard Tommy Kelly hit three of four charity tosses before senior guard Cecil Brown canned back-to-back shots.

Brown finished one assist shy of a “double-double” as he scored 10 points and handed out nine assists.

He and Bailey, who also blocked three shots, were two of five Rock starters who finished the game with double-digit scoring totals. Junior forward Maron Brown scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. senior guard Michael Evans Jr. scored 15 points and handed out five assists and senior guard Maurice Douglas contributed 12 points and six rebounds.

Tyrone Roach scored a game-high 35 points for Shepherd.

The Rock trailed by five points, 41-36, at halftime but never trailed in the final 20 minutes, thanks to a 12-0 run to open the final stanza. Evans hit a pair of treys and Maron Brown added two layups to key the run.

Shepherd trimmed the deficit to one point, 63-62, with 8:15 left to play before SRU scored 15 of the next 23 points in the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the game, an eight-point, 78-70 advantage.

The Rams then twice trimmed the margin to three points and got to within two points (84-82) with 0:30 left before Kelly hit one of two free throws and Cecil Brown canned back-to-back charity tosses to ice the win.

The Rock finished the game with a respectable 43% (31-72) efficiency on its field goal attempts, buried 36% (15-42) shots from beyond the 3-point arc and canned 10 of 14 (71%) free throws.

SRU, after shooting 34% (13-38) from the field in the first half, hit 54% (18-34) of its second-half attempts. That included a 60% (8-15) efficiency from 3-point range.

Shepherd shot 43% (31 of 73) from the field, 39% (10 of 26) from 3-point range and 71% (12 of 17) from the charity stripe in the game after shooting 40% (15-38) from the field and 43% (6-14) from 3-point range in the first half.

The Rams held a final 47-42 rebounding edge after it had a 30-20 lead at halftime and were on the lower end of a 13-12 turnover comparison after on the high side of a 6-5 comparison at halftime.

SRU took a quick 6-0 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Evans and Douglas in the opening minute of action before Shepherd bounced back to score nine of the next 11 points and take its first lead of the game, 9-8, at the 16:00 mark of the first half.

That was the first of 10 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes, the final one of which came on a 3-pointer by Douglas that put SRU up by a 31-30 score with 5:30 left before halftime.

Shepherd then scored 11 of the last 16 points in the opening stanza and held a 41-35 lead at the intermission.

The largest lead in the opening 20 minutes was an eight-point, 41-33, Rams' advantage with 30 seconds left.

The Rock is idle until Dec. 30, when it will host Ohio University Eastern in a 3 p.m. game in Morrow Field House. That will be the first of three home contests The Rock will play in the span of five days.

Notes: Monday night's win was the 16th straight regular-season triumph for The Rock, who have now won 17 of their last 18 games and 19 of their last 21 games … The Rock now owns a 29-8 record in two seasons under the guidance of head coach Kevin Reynolds … The 8-0 start is one win better than last winter's opening run and the best start for a Rock team since the 1963-64 squad coached by Hank Baierl opened with nine straight wins … The starts to the last two seasons represent a stark contrast to The Rock's 2007-08 season, when the Green and White won a total of seven games in 27 outings … Monday's win was the third in as many games this winter against West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams.