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MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – A valiant comeback effort came up short Friday afternoon as visiting Slippery Rock University dropped an 87-78 decision to Millersville University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball "crossover" action in Pucillo Gymnasium.
The Rock trailed by 18 points, 76-58, with six-plus minutes left to play before they went on a 20-5 run to trim the deficit to only three points (81-78) with just over a minute remaining.
Millersville made six of eight free throws in the final minute to set the final margin and record its second consecutive win and fourth in 10 tries this winter.
The loss ended a two-game win streak by The Rock, who saw their season record drop to 10-4.
Both teams return to action Saturday as The Rock visits Shippensburg and Millersville entertains Edinboro. Both games are set to tip off at 3 p.m.
Senior center
Maurice Lewis-Briggs had another strong game in leading The Rock's losing effort Friday. The transfer from Division I Morehead State University recorded game-high totals of 29 points and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
Lewis-Briggs scored a career-high 32 points in The Rock's Dec. 21 win at Cheyney and had his best-ever rebounding effort Friday at Millersville.
Friday's "double-double" was the team-high fourth recorded this season by Lewis-Briggs, who was one of four Rock players to finish the game with a double-digit scoring total.
Redshirt junior guard
Antonio Butler scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a substitute role, while starters
Josh Martin and
Tabari Perry each scored 10 points. Martin, a senior guard, also handed out five assists, while Perry, a redshirt senior forward, snared six rebounds.
Also worthy of notice was the performance put forth by redshirt sophomore swingman
Jordan Grady (left picture), who grabbed 10 rebounds and scored six points off the bench.
Tavon Parker scored a team-high 14 points to lead a list of six Millersville players who recorded double-digit scoring efforts.
Behind the lead of Lewis-Briggs, The Rock outrebounded Millersville by an eye-popping 61-31 margin, including 26 offensive boards that paved the way to a 31-4 advantage in second-chance points and a 52-36 advantage in scoring "in the paint."
Millersville, meanwhile, took better care of the basketball with only 10 turnovers and converted 20 Rock miscues into a 23-11 scoring margin on points off mistakes.
The Rock also hurt themselves with a chilly shooting effort. SRU made only 37% (27 of 73) of their action shots with an icy-cold 1-for-11 effort from 3-point range. The Rock also missed 10 of their 33 free throws for a 70% efficiency from the foul line.
Millersville made 26 of 58 (44%) of its field-goal tries with an 8-for-19 (42%) showing from 3-point range and sank 27 of 42 (64%) free throws.
Lewis-Briggs singlehandedly provided most of The Rock's first-half attack as he scored 18 points of SRU's 36 points and also grabbed eight rebounds in 18 minutes of playing time in the opening 20 minutes.
As a team, The Rock made a chilly 38% (15 of 40) of their field-goal attempts with an ice-cold 0-for-4 showing from 3-point range. The Rock had an equally frigid 46% (6 of 13) effort from the foul line.
On the plus side, The Rock had a 31-17 rebounding advantage with 15 of the boards coming on the offensive end and leading to a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points and a 30-18 advantage in scoring "in the paint."
SRU also had a 10-0 advantage in fast-break points, but were on the high side of an 8-6 turnover comparison.
Millersville made 48% (14 of 39) of its action shots in the first half with a 5-for-10 showing from 3-point range and a 56% (9 of 16) effort from the foul line.
The score was tied on five occasions and the lead changed hands seven times in the first 20 minutes of action.
Millersville held a 42-36 lead at the intermission and never trailed in the final 20 minutes.
The fifth tie of the game, a 20-20 deadlock at the 9:45 mark of the opening half, preceded an 8-0 Millersville run in the span of 100 seconds.
The Rock battled back to trim the deficit to two points on three occasions in the next five minutes but were unable to pull even until they scored the first six points of the second half to knot the score at 42-42 with 18:45 left to play.
Undaunted, Millersville, scored 27 of the next 35 points to take a 69-50 lead with 9:30 remaining in the game.
Three minutes later, the Marauders still held an 18-point lead before The Rock made a strong closing run.
