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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – When the final horn sounded, the scoreboard showed Slippery Rock University came up short against hosting Southern Mississippi, 77-65, in exhibition men's basketball action.

But the experience was a positive one for the NCAA Division II Rock, who made their Division I rivals work for the unofficial victory.

The Rock trailed Southern Miss by only six points, 35-29, at the intermission and then put together a 9-0 run late in the game to trim a 19-point deficit down to 10 with two minutes left to play.

Not a bad effort for a team that returned only one starter and one top reserve from arguably the best team in school history and faced a foe that returned three starters from a Postseason NIT squad.

The Rock will look to have the same confidence-building effort Friday when they travel down I-79 to the Petersen Events Center to take on a Pittsburgh program that earned a berth in "the big dance" a year ago.

Tipoff for Friday's game is set for 7 p.m.

Junior guard Matej Delinac, a transfer from Marshalltown Community College in Iowa, scored 16 points in his first game with The Rock to lead SRU's scoring attack.

Senior center Maurice Lewis-Briggs, a transfer from Division I Morehead State, chipped in 14 points for The Rock, while senior guard Josh Martin (Bridgeport) and redshirt junior guard Antonio Butler (Garrett College) each added eight points.

As a unit, The Rock battled the hosting Golden Eagles to a 33-33 stalemate in rebounds. Junior guard Abdul King led The Rock with four rebounds.

SRU shot 38% (18 of 47) from the field, hit 32% (9 of 28) shots from beyond the 3-point arc and sank a chilly 56% (20 of 36) of their free-throw opportunities.

Southern Miss hit 50% (23 of 46) of its action shots, including a 29% (2 of 7) showing from 3-point range, and canned 74% (29 of 39) of its free throws.

The Rock forced their hosts into 20 turnovers while committing 17 miscues.

Redshirt sophomore Erik Raleigh, a transfer from Division I Central Connecticut State, recorded four of The Rock's five blocked shots, while senior guard Sa'Quan Davis picked up three of SRU's seven steals.

Davis came off the bench to play in all 32 Rock games a year ago and is one of two regulars returning for sixth-year head coach Kevin Reynolds.

The Rock took their first lead of the game, 13-12, on a 3-point shot by Lewis-Briggs with 11 minutes left to play in the first half and were up by five points, 19-14, with 9:15 left before the intermission thanks to a trey by Delinac.

Southern Miss scored seven unanswered points to regain the lead at 21-19 with 7:30 left in the half before The Rock tied the score one minute later. The hosts then outscored SRU by a 14-8 margin in the final six and a half minutes to take a 35-29 lead into the intermission.

The Golden Eagles enjoyed a 15-point, 56-41, lead midway through the second half of action and were ahead by 19 points, 73-54, with 4:00 left to play before SRU ran off nine unanswered points in the next two minutes to make it a 73-63 game.

Following Friday's final preseason game at Pitt, The Rock turn their attention to the official season opener Nov. 9 against Charleston as part of the Clarion Hotel Conference Challenge hosted by Shepherd University.

SRU's home opener is Nov. 14 against Ohio Valley University. Tipoff in Morrow Field House is set for 7 p.m.