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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team let a nine-point second half lead slip away as Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division leading Gannon University rallied for a 74-71 win Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.
 
Ganon entered the game in a three-way tie for first place in the PSAC West with an 11-3 conference record, while Slippery Rock entered one game back at 10-4. The win is huge for the Golden Knights in terms of keep them atop the league standings and also puts a two-game cushion between the leaders and Slippery Rock.
 
The loss drops SRU to 15-6 overall and 10-5 in league games. Gannon's fifth straight win over The Rock improves the Golden Knights to 13-7 overall and 12-3 in league games.
 
The two teams entered Wednesday night's game as the first and second best defensive units in the PSAC, each holding opponents just under 40 percent from the field.
 
You wouldn't have known that after the game as both squads shot better than 50 percent from the field. Slippery Rock finished at 53.1 percent from the field (26-of-49), 42.9 percent from 3-point (6-of-14) and 81.3 percent from the free throw line (13-of-16). It marked the best shooting effort in a loss for SRU all season and was all-around one of the team's finest shooting efforts of the year.
 
Gannon shot slightly worse at 52.8 percent from the field (28-of-53), but was 60 percent from 3-point (6-of-10) and only 50 percent from the free throw line (12-of-24).
 
The biggest shock for Slippery Rock came on the glass, where the nation's leading rebounders were held to just 28 total rebounds and eight offensive boards. It tied the previous meeting with Gannon back in November for the lowest total rebounds in a game this season for SRU, which entered the game averaging 48.3 rebounds and 19.4 offensive boards. More importantly for Gannon was that The Rock was only able to score seven second chance points.
 
Gannon matched SRU with 28 total rebounds, but grabbed 10 offensive boards and converted nearly all of them into second chance points to finish with 14 points after an offensive rebound.
 
Just as important for Gannon in its second half comeback was the turnover battle, where the visitors were +7 after forcing 15 Rock turnovers and coughing the ball up just eight times.
 
Frank Holloway was the go-to man for Slippery Rock, finishing with a career-high 20 points on a 9-of-13 shooting effort. He also pulled down four boards and handed out a career-high four assists.
 
Antonio Butler led Slippery Rock in scoring after netting 14 points in the second half to finish with 23 points for his 13th straight double figure game and fifth game with 20 or more points this year. He also grabbed a team-high five rebounds and handed out three assists.
 
Kelvin Goodwin capped the top scorers for Slippery Rock with 13 points and also handed out three assists. Jamal Gatali and Cornelius Brown each chipped in six points.
 
Gannon was led by a 17-point effort from Adam Blazek, who shot 6-of-16 from the field in the game and scored 11 of his points in the second half. Matthew Dogan added 13 points, Daniel Kaigler chipped in 10 points and Girbran Smith also scored 10 points.
 
Wednesday night's game featured big swings from both teams.  Slippery Rock scored the first six points of the game, but Gannon battled back to take seven-point lead, 22-15, midway through the first period. The Rock answered with a 13-3 run to take a 28-25 lead with just over two minutes to play in the opening period.
 
Gannon knocked down two shots from in the paint, including one that was tipped in off the hands of a Slippery Rock defender going for the rebounds, to lead 29-28 at halftime.
 
Slippery Rock would actually give up four points on the night by tipping a rebound back into the opposing goal after a missed Gannon shot.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the second half until the score was tied at 34-34 and Slippery Rock then went on a 13-4 run to open up a 47-38 lead with 15:08 to play. The nine-point advantage would end up being the biggest for either team in the game.
 
Gannon rallied to cut the deficit to four points, but The Rock answered with a 5-0 run to make it another nine-point lead, 52-43 with 12:24 to play.
 
The teams again traded buckets until Slippery Rock led by eight, 60-52 with 8:22 to play.
 
From there, Gannon put together a 12-0 run to retake control of the game with a 64-60 lead with 3:45 to play.
 
Slippery Rock kept it close down the stretch, getting it to three points with 14 seconds to play and two points with seven seconds to play, but free throws kept the Golden Knights in it.
 
With six seconds left, A'Darius Porter was fouled with Gannon leading by two points and knocked down one of his two free throw attempts to give SRU the ball with a chance to tie. A last second 3-point effort from Goodwin came up short and sealed the win for Gannon.
 
The loss was the first of the season at Morrow Field House for Slippery Rock, which drops to 9-1 at home this year.
 
The Rock will return to the road this Saturday when they travel to Pitt-Johnstown for a 3 p.m. PSAC West game.