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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Senior guard Josh Martin's old-fashioned, three-point play with 3.9 seconds left to play Wednesday night gave hosting Slippery Rock University a heart-stopping 62-60 win over West Chester University in Morrow Field House.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" decision wasn't determined for sure until a "runner" by WCU's Rasheed Wilkins at the buzzer failed to fall.

Martin's game-winning drive down the lane, capped by a successful layup and free throw, gave The Rock only its fifth lead of the game, but the second in the span of 24 seconds.

Redshirt junior guard Antonio Butler put SRU on top by a 59-58 score with an off-balance "putback" basket with 27.1 seconds left.

West Chester regained the lead, 60-59, on a layup by Shannon Givens with 12.5 seconds left to set up the game-winning play.

Wednesday's win improved The Rock's season record to 9-3 and gave the Green and White, members of the PSAC-Western Division, a 1-1 mark in interdivisional games against PSAC-East squads.

SRU lost a 76-64 decision to 12th-ranked East Stroudsburg one night prior to its win over West Chester.

The Rock continue the interdivisional series Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Cheyney that opens a three-game road trip for the Green and White.

SRU's next home game is Jan. 8, when it hosts Kutztown in a 3 p.m. game to close out the six-game crossover series.

Wednesday's loss was West Chester's second in as many nights against a PSAC-West rival. The Golden Rams, who left Slippery Rock with a 6-4 season record, dropped a 69-64 decision Tuesday night at California (Pa.).

SRU won Wednesday's game despite having one of its poorer shooting efforts of the season. The Rock made only 27% (16 of 60) of their field-goal attempts and five of 20 (25%) tries from 3-point range.

The Rock were a little more accurate from the foul line, where they sank 63% (25 of 40) of their shots, and in the end that's where the hosts won the game.

West Chester attempted only 14 free throws, making eight for a lukewarm 57% efficiency. The Golden Rams hit 37% (25 of 67) shots from the floor with a 20% (1 of 10) showing from 3-point range.

The Rock, who entered the game ranked fourth in the PSAC in fewest points allowed (64.2 per game), held the conference's third-ranked scoring offense (82.8 ppg) almost 23 points under its average.

The PSAC leader in rebounding margin, SRU had a 50-45 advantage on the backboards vs. WCU and were on the lower end of a 13-12 turnover comparison.

West Chester outscored The Rock by a 34-20 margin "in the paint, while SRU had a 23-10 advantage in scoring "off the bench."


The double-double was Lewis-Briggs' third of the season and moved him into a tie with senior forward Tabari Perry for the team lead.

Perry grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and scored seven points Wednesday.

Troy Hockaday's 11 points led West Chester's attack. Matt Wisely added 10 points and six rebounds, Cory Blake had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds and Givens had nine points and five rebounds.

As mentioned earlier, West Chester led almost the entire game.

The only Rock leads prior to the two final-minute advantages were 8-7 and 10-9 edges with just over 15 minutes left to play in the first half and a 32-31 edge in the opening seconds of the second half of action.

West Chester held a 7-2 lead after two minutes of action before The Rock scored six unanswered points to take their first lead of the game. West Chester answered the second Rock lead with a 4-0 run to take a lead it would not relinquish until SRU scored the first points of the second half of action.

Down by the 32-31 score, West Chester put together an 18-8 run to take a 49-40 lead with 13 minutes left to play in the game.

To The Rock's credit, they refused to fold at that point and eventually clawed their way back to pull even and take the lead in the final 30 seconds of action.