BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team dropped a 70-67 decision on the road at Bloomsburg University Sunday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover action from Thomas Field House.
 
The Rock drop to 8-6 overall and 3-5 in PSAC action with the loss, while Bloomsburg improves to 7-5 overall and 5-3 in PSAC games.
 
The Huskies led nearly the entire game, opening up a 35-28 lead at halftime and building the advantage to as many as 11 points in the second half. The hosts led by nine, 57-48, with 7:18 to play before Slippery Rock began to chip away and fight back into the game.
 
The Rock got the margin down to two points at 65-63 with 1:36 to play and had a chance to tie or take the lead on the next possession, but a missed layup followed by a turnover after the offensive rebound squandered that chance and Bloomsburg capitalized to extend the lead and eventually closed out the game by knocking down free throws.
 
Both teams relied heavily on one player to lead the way with Slippery Rock leaning on Chaquille Pratt and Bloomsburg leaning on Christian Mortellite.
 
Pratt finished with a game-high 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to be the only play in the game with a double-double. Mortellite scored 19 points on 4-of-10 shooting, but knocked down 10-of-11 free throw attempts for most of his scoring.
 
Slippery Rock also got an 11-point showing from Naquil Jones as the only other player in the game for either team that finished in double figures. Abdul King added eight points and five assists for The Rock. Jordan Marrow chipped in nine points and Erik Raleigh added seven points.
 
The Rock's top two scorers on the year, Malcolm Richardson and Cornelius Brown, both played less than 17 minutes due to foul trouble. Richardson finished with two points and two assists and Brown finished with four points and three rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock shot 32.8 percent from the field (22-of-67), 23.5 percent from 3-point (4-of-17) and 73.1 percent at the free throw line (19-of-26). The Rock pulled down an incredible 55 rebounds and posted a +21 figure in rebounding margin as Bloomsburg managed 34. SRU snagged 22 offensive rebounds and converted those into 25 second chance points, while Bloomsburg managed seven offensive rebounds and scored zero second chance points.
 
The Huskies finished the game shooting 43.6 percent from the field (24-of-55), 30.8 percent from 3-point (4-of-13) and 54.5 percent at the free throw line (18-of-33). Malik Garner, Donell Diggs and Charles Haigler each added eight points for Bloomsburg.
 
Sunday's game marked the fifth PSAC crossover of the year for Slippery Rock, which will close the crossover schedule with a home game against East Stroudsburg at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.