GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team ran its current win streak to five games and finished the month of December unbeaten after posting a 72-64 win at Seton Hill University Friday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action.
 
Slippery Rock went a perfect 5-0 in the month of December after opening the year 3-4. The victory improves The Rock to 8-4 overall and 4-2 in PSAC games and keeps SRU in second place in the PSAC West standings. Seton Hill drops to 5-5 overall and 2-4 in league games. Friday's win was just the second for SRU in Greensburg, improving the program's record to 2-4 all-time at Seton Hill.
 
Slippery Rock led for the final 31 minutes of action, but the margin never grew above seven points for the majority of the second half. The Rock's lead was trimmed to one point at 58-57 with 4:47 to play, but Wooten slammed the door with back-to-back buckets and scored eight points over the next four minutes to keep SRU in control.
 
Jordan Marrow knocked down a 3-pointer and hit a free throw and Guilherme Verardo tipped in an offensive rebound to join Wooten in posting a 14-4 run over a stretch of 4:37 that put the game away. SRU was 6-of-8 from the field during that stretch and held the Griffins to just 1-of-6 from the floor.
 
Wooten finished with his best all-around game in a Rock uniform, posting a game-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal. Naquil Jones scored 14 points in the second half to finish with 20 points and also pulled down five rebounds.
 
Merdic Green added eight points to give the three starting guards 49 points in the game. Christal Malalu chipped in eight points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Marrow finished with eight points and a career-high seven assists and Verardo scored five points and pulled down six rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock shot 63.3 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the field (32-of-63) and 41.2 percent from 3-point (7-of-17). The Rock were 1-of-6 at the free throw line in a game that featured only 15 total free throw attempts.
 
SRU posted a 40-28 edge in total rebounds and turned 14 offensive boards into a 17-2 advantage in second chance scoring. The Rock finished with a 46-24 edge in points in the paint and have now outrebounded their opponent in all 12 games this season.
 
Seton Hill shot 44.8 percent from the field (26-of-58) and 41.2 percent from 3-point (7-of-17). The Griffins were 5-of-9 at the free throw line and got 29 points from their bench.
 
Noah Davis matched Wooten with a game-high 21 points and Tyler Bowling scored 17 points for the hosts.
 
Friday's game marked the final game of the 2016 calendar year for SRU, which will open 2017 Tuesday night (Jan. 3) with a 7:30 p.m. tip at Mercyhurst. The Rock return home next Friday night to host Indiana (Pa.) at 7 p.m.