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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Senior center Maurice Lewis-Briggs sank a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left to play Wednesday night to lift the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to victory and keep the Green and White alone atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division standings.

Lewis-Briggs' free throws provided the final two points in SRU's 72-71 win over visiting Seton Hill University that extended The Rock's current win streak to five games and improved their season records to 15-4 overall, 6-1 against division rivals.

Seton Hill saw its season records fall to 11-6 overall and 3-4 in PSAC West action.

The Rock puts its win streak and first-place standing on the line Saturday when it visits defending conference champion Indiana (Pa.) for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Indiana (15-2 overall, 5-2 PSAC-W) is tied with Mercyhurst (9-8, 5-2) for third place in the division standings, one full game behind The Rock and one-half game behind second-place Gannon (11-7, 6-2).

Wednesday's win assured The Rock of a sixth consecutive winning season under six-year head coach Kevin Reynolds, a feat that had not been accomplished by the SRU men's program since 1928.

The win also assured SRU of at least a share of first place in the division standings when the conference schedule reaches its midway point Saturday.

With the loss Wednesday, Seton Hill is tied with California, Pa. (8-9, 3-4) and Pitt-Johnstown (10-7, 3-4) for fifth place in the nine-team division standings.

Lewis-Briggs was The Rock's leading scorer and rebounder Wednesday night as he finished with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Junior guard Matej Delinac and senior guard Josh Martin each scored 13 points for SRU, Delinac doing so in a substitute role, while senior swingman Tabari Perry added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Kameron Taylor took game-high scoring honors with 29 points for Seton Hill. Max Kenyi added 13 points and Malachi Leonard and David Windsor each chipped in 12 points for the Griffins.

Leonard, who finished the game with only four rebounds, entered the game ranked first in the conference in rebounding at 10.0 per game and sixth in scoring at 19.7 points per game.

Both teams ended the game with 44% showings on their field-goal attempts, SRU hitting 26 of 59 shots and Seton Hill nailing 22 of 50.

The teams also battled to virtual even terms in 3-point shot attempts, SRU burying 11 of 23 shots (48%) and Seton Hill sinking 10 of 23 (44%).

SRU made 75% (9 of 12) of its free throws, compared to an 85% (17 of 20) showing by the visitors.

The Rock held a commanding 41-22 advantage in rebounds, but were on the high end of a 14-11 turnover comparison.

SRU also held a 26-18 advantage in scoring "in the paint," a 14-2 margin in second-chance points and, behind Delinac's lead, a 23-2 advantage in scoring "off the bench."

Seton Hill converted Rock turnovers into 20 points, while SRU scored 12 points off Seton Hill mistakes.

The first half of action featured 14 lead changes and three ties and ended with SRU holding a 41-38 lead.

The Rock outscored Seton Hill by a 13-6 margin in the first six and a half minutes of the second half to take a 10-point, 54-44, lead with 13:30 left to play and held another double-digit lead (62-52) five minutes later.

Four minutes after that, though, the score was tied at 64-64 as Seton Hill put together a 12-2 run to set the stage for a nip-and-tuck final four minutes of action.

Lewis-Briggs' decisive free throws accounted for the fourth lead change in those final minutes, which also saw the score tied on two occasions.

Seton Hill got a pair of 3-point shots off in the final seconds but neither of them passed through the rim for game-winning points.

Following Saturday's trip to Indiana, The Rock travel to Clarion for a division game next Wednesday before returning home to entertain California in a 3 p.m. PSAC West game Feb. 1.