SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Abdul King knocked down a pair of free throws with five seconds left in regulation to force overtime and Malcolm Richardson hit a step back 11-footer with 11.7 seconds left in the extra period to propel the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to a 72-70 victory over Pitt-Johnstown Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock improve to 10-9 overall and 5-8 in PSAC games with the victory, while Pitt-Johnstown drops to 10-7 overall and 7-6 in league games. Slippery Rock improves to 4-1 against the Mountain Cats since they joined the PSAC in prior to the 2013-14 season.
 
SRU built a double figure lead in the first half thanks to a big advantage on the glass, outrebounding UPJ 29-14 in the period and pulling down 14 offensive rebounds. Those boards translated to eight second chance points and helped the hosts to a 33-20 halftime lead.
 
The Rock's lead grew early in the second half and it looked like the home team would run away with a victory after Chaquille Pratt knocked down a jumper to make it 39-23 with 17:51 to play, but a perfect storm of Pitt-Johnstown getting hot and The Rock going ice cold flipped the script.
 
The visitors reeled off 13 straight points to make it a three-point game and eventually capped a 29-10 run with a 3-pointer from A.J. Leahey that gave them their first lead of the game, 52-49, with just 5:01 to play.
 
The Mountain Cats advantage grew to as high as six points and held steady at five points, 58-53, with 1:38 to play.
 
From there, The Rock shut down Pitt-Johnstown and closed the half on a 5-0 run to force overtime. First Cornelius Brown hit a layup with 1:20 to play, then Abdul King hit 1-of-2 free throws with 45 seconds to play to make it 58-56.
 
With SRU holding the ball for a last second shot, King was fouled with 5.1 seconds left and sent to the line. Even with four misses from the charity stripe earlier in the game, King was unphased by the pressure and hit both shots to tie the game at 58-58. UPJ had a last second look at a layup, but Erik Raleigh swatted the ball away to send it to OT.
 
Both teams were hot in the overtime, each shooting 50 percent or better from the field. The Rock had made just three 3-pointers in regulation and only five total 3-pointers in the last 120 minutes of game time, but Jamal Gatali drilled back-to-back deep shots to give SRU an early spark. UPJ answered with strong play from Leahey and Dale Clancy gave the Mountain Cats a 70-69 advantage with a pair of made free throws with 30 seconds left.
 
Slippery Rock again held for one good look and that came from the baseline to the left of the hoop when Richardson dribbled in, got space and knocked down an 11-footer with 11.7 seconds left to put The Rock up one. UPJ had a look at a last second layup, but the shot never reached the rim and Richardson rebounded the ball with 0.8 seconds left. He hit the first free throw after being fouled and missed the second on purpose to end the game.
 
Richardson finished with a team-high 19 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Cornelius Brown matched him with 19 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Chaquille Pratt scored 12 points, despite playing limited minutes with foul trouble. Abdul King also added 12 points, with eight of those coming from the free throw line. Gatali, who missed the last six games with injury, finished with six points, all in the extra period.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field (26-of-65), 38.5 percent from 3-point (5-of-13) and 65.2 percent from the free throw line (15-of-23). The Rock posted a final advantage of 43-36 in total rebounding and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds, 10 second chance points and a 36-26 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 40.4 percent from the field (23-of-57) and got better each period. The Mountain Cats shot 32 percent in the first half, 46.2 percent in the second half and 50 percent in the extra period. They finished the game shooting 33.3 percent from 3-point (6-of-18) and 90 percent at the free throw line (18-of-20).
 
Leahey finished with a game-high 23 points. Clancy added 15 points, Isaac Vescovi chipped in 14 points and Nate Snodgrass added 12 points.
 
Slippery Rock will look to continue its momentum Saturday with a road game at Gannon University. Tip is set for 3 p.m. from the Hammermill Center in Erie in the rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament opener.