Box Score (HTML)
 
GLENVILLE, W.Va. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team controlled the boards to pick up a narrow 63-62 road victory against Glenville State College in a Mountain East-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover from the campus of the Pioneers Saturday night.   
 
For the second straight game, Slippery Rock utilized strong defense and rebounding to fuel a victory over an NCAA tournament opponent from last season. The Rock tallied a whopping 53-22 advantage on the boards, including a 21-5 edge on the offensive glass.
 
Neither team led by more than six points for the entirety of the back-and-forth affair that featured nine lead changes and nine tie scores. The Pioneers took advantage of 15 Rock turnovers to post a 12-point advantage in points off turnovers, while SRU outscored Glenville State 14-4 in second chance points.
 
Slippery Rock took a six-point lead midway through the first half before the Pioneers surged ahead 30-26 on a 14-6 run. A three-pointer as the clock expired from Frank Holloway brought The Rock within one at 30-29 heading into the break.
 
The Rock regained the lead on a 5-0 run to start the second half before the teams traded buckets for most of the frame. A layup by Antonio Butler pushed the SRU lead to four with just under six minutes remaining in regulation, but the Pioneers responded with a 6-0 run to surge ahead 60-58 with 3:37 left in the half.
 
Slippery Rock's stingy defense held the hosts to a single field goal over the final 3:37 of regulation as The Rock flexed their muscle in the paint to surge ahead in the final minutes. With the score tied 62-62, Jamal Gatali snared his game-high seventh offensive rebound before being fouled with 31 seconds to go. Gatali split the pair to put The Rock ahead 63-62, before a desperation heave from the Pioneers on the final possession missed its mark and gave SRU the hard-fought victory.
 
Butler posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting, followed by Holloway with 13 points.
 
Gatali tallied seven points and collected a game-high 12 rebounds, followed by Kelvin Goodwin and Chaquille Pratt with eight and seven points, respectively.
 
A night after defeating Gannon, Glenville State was limited to 42.1 field goal percentage (24-of-57), 33.3 percent from three (9-of-27) and just 17 total rebounds.
 
Donte Morales led Glenville State with a game-high 26 points on a high-volume shooting night with a 10-for-24 mark in total field goals and 5-for-9 clip from range. Luke Campbell chipped in eight points, followed by Sedric Nady and Kade Kager with seven points apiece.
 
Slippery Rock shot a respectable 44.1 field goal percentage (26-of-59), but struggled from beyond the three point arc (4-of-15) and from the foul line (7-of-15). The difference-maker for The Rock came in the paint, where they outscored the Pioneers 42-24.  
 
Through two games on the young season, SRU owns an impressive 105-57 edge in total rebounds over opponents.
 
The Rock begins PSAC action with a showdown at Gannon Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.