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SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – Slippery Rock University withstood a valiant comeback effort down the stretch by hosting Shepherd University Sunday afternoon to record its first win of the season, 76-68, in a duel of NCAA Division II Atlantic Region men's basketball teams.

The win gave SRU a 1-1 split in the two-day, two-game Clarion Hotel Conference Classic hosted by Shepherd. The Rock dropped a 73-68 overtime decision to Charleston in opening-day action last Saturday.

The Rock now turn their attention to Thursday's home opener vs. Ohio Valley University. Tipoff in Morrow Field House is set for 7 p.m.

Senior center Maurice Lewis-Briggs led The Rock in scoring for the second consecutive day as he collected 20 points and six rebounds. Lewis-Briggs was named to the all-tournament team following Sunday's game.

Redshirt senior forward Tabari Perry added 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for The Rock and shared game-high rebounding honors with junior teammates Antonio Butler and Erik Raleigh, who each scored six points, and Shepherd's Morgan McDonald, who scored eight points.

Kelvin Dixon scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds for SRU, while junior guard Matej Delinac added seven points. Guards Sa'Quan Davis and Josh Martin each handed out four assists for The Rock.

Brantley Osborne took game-high scoring honors with 21 points for the Rams (1-1), while Austin Cunningham scored 20 points.

The Rock never trailed in the game, but after leading by 20 points (43-23) at halftime and 25 points (48-23) with 18:57 left to play, saw their lead cut to only five points, 69-64, with 42 seconds remaining.

SRU shot the ball very well from the field, hitting 62% (31-50) of their overall action shots and 43% (6-14) of their 3-point attempts, but made a chilly 40% (8-20) of their free throws.

Shepherd had the opposite kind of numbers, hitting 37% (26-71) of their field goal tries and 21% (6-29) from long range while canning 10 of 13 (77%) free throws.

The Rock won the rebounding battle by a 43-32 margin, but had just shy of double the number of turnovers as Shepherd, 23-12.

Thursday night's game vs. Ohio Valley is the first of two consecutive home games The Rock will play. SRU opens Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division competition Nov. 20 with an 8 p.m. game vs. Clarion University. That will be the second game of a women's/men's doubleheader in Morrow Field House.