Boxscore
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Slippery Rock University scored 18 of the final 24 points Sunday afternoon to hand hosting Millersville University a 66-56 loss in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball “crossover” action.
The teams were tied at 50-50 with 5:30 left to play before Rock senior shooting guard
Torrance Timothy buried a 3-point shot to give the guests the lead for good.
Timothy's trey opened a 14-2 run by The Rock that paved the way to SRU's second win of the season in three outings and first in two PSAC contests.
Millersville dropped to 2-2 overall, 0-2 in conference action.
The Rock will seek a second straight win Saturday when they host Seton Hill in a 3 p.m. non-conference game in Morrow Field House.
That contest opens a three-game homestand for the Green and White, who host East Stroudsburg and Kutztown in back-to-back 3 p.m., PSAC “crossover” games Dec. 3 and 4.
Rock senior point guard
Jon Valeriano nailed six of six free throws in the final minutes to finish Sunday's game with a team-high 13 points. He led a balanced scoring attack that saw Timothy, junior guard
Aubin Reeves (pictured) add 11 points and Timothy, junior guard
John Bayardelle and senior forward
Devin Taylor each finish with nine points. Taylor also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Junior center
Luiz Santos grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and scored five points for The Rock, sophomore forward
Tabari Perry handed out a team-high four assists and blocked three shots and senior guard
Tommy Kelly buried two 3-point shots to finish with six points.
Jaymes Miller took game scoring honors with 15 points for Millersville, while teammate Elijah Obade finished with 14 points.
Millersville jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the first two minutes of action Sunday before The Rock roared back to take the lead for the first time.
The Rock responded to the Marauders' opening sprint with a 13-2 run and took their first lead of the game, 14-12, on a layup by Santos with 13:20 left before halftime.
Millersville tied the score at 14-14 before The Rock regained the lead and never relinquished it until midway through the second half.
SRU held a 36-30 lead at the intermission thanks to a balanced scoring attack that saw Valeriano score seven points, Timothy and Kelly score six points each and Bayardelle add five tallies. Santos snared eight first-half rebounds.
The Rock buried six of 10 3-point shots in the first 20 minutes of action. Kelly and Timothy each nailed two treys, while Valeriano and Taylor each knocked down one.
Halftime statistics showed The Rock with a 44% (14-32) efficiency on its field goal attempts with a 2-fo-4 showing from the foul line. The guests had a 23-17 rebounding advantage at halftime, but also had more turnovers, 9-7.
Millersville shot 38% (12-32) from the field in the first half, hit one of three long-range shots and sank five of nine (56%) free throws.
The Rock came out of intermission with a head of steam and scored six of the first eight second-half points to push their lead to 10 points, 42-32, on a Taylor slam dunk with 17:45 left to play.
Millersville refused to fold, though, and went on a 12-2 run to tie the score at 46-46 with 10 minutes remaining.
The score was tied again at 48-48 and 50-50 before The Rock began its closing kick to the finish line.
