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ERIE, Pa. – Mercyhurst University rode a 37-9 scoring run during a 15-minute time span midway through the game to a 60-57 come-from-behind win Saturday afternoon over visiting Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball action.
The Rock (15-6 overall, 12-5 PSAC), who suffered their third defeat in the last five games, held a 21-3 lead with 5:30 left in the first half of action before Mercyhurst (14-9, 10-7) began its comeback.
The Lakers had a 15-5 scoring advantage in the final five-plus minutes of the first half to trim the deficit to eight points, 26-18, at halftime. The hosts then outscored SRU by a 22-4 margin in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 40-30 lead.
The hosts held their largest lead of the game, an 11-point (47-36) advantage with 7:30 left to play before SRU put together a 16-6 run to close the difference to one point, 53-52, with just under a minute remaining.
Mercyhurst scored six of the next seven points to push its lead to 59-53 and eventually ice the win.
The Lakers' road to victory was paved primarily by free throws. The hosts outscored SRU by a 30-11 margin from the charity stripe behind a 2-to-1 (36-18) advantage in attempts. The Rock were called for 28 personal fouls, compared to 20 on the Lakers.
Final statistics showed SRU shooting 37% (19 of 51) from the field, 35% (8 of 23) from 3-point range and 61% (11 of 18) from the foul line. The Rock had a37-30 rebounding advantage, but were on the high end of a 12-6 turnover comparison.
Mercyhurst made 33% (14 of 43) of their field-goal attempts, hit two of 10 tries from 3-point range and sank 83% (30 of 36) of their free-throw opportunities.
Senior guard
Darious Clark buried five 3-point shots en route to a team-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead The Rock attack. Senior forward
Devin Taylor added 15 points and nine rebounds and senior guard
Aubin Reeves chipped in 11 points and four assists. Senior forward
Gerald Brooks grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Luis Leao took game scoring honors with 20 points and snared a team-high 10 rebounds for Mercyhurst, Jean Onana added 14 points and Jonathan Ouegnin chipped in 12 points and five rebounds.
Saturday's loss, at least temporarily, dropped The Rock into sole possession of third place in the PSAC-West standings. SRU began the day tied with Gannon (18-4, 12-4) for second place, one game behind division-leading Indiana, Pa. (17-3, 13-3).
IUP and Gannon were both in action later Saturday, Gannon at California, Pa. in a 5 p.m. tipoff, IUP at Clarion in a 7:30 p.m. game.
The Rock's next game will be Wednesday, when they host division rival Lock Haven in an 8 p.m. game in Morrow Field House. That opens a two-game homestand for SRU, which entertains Edinboro in a 3 p.m. game next Saturday, Feb. 16.
