SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team continued its impressive midseason turnaround with a 79-74 victory over Edinboro University Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
The victory moves The Rock into sole possession of sixth place in the PSAC West standings and gives SRU four wins in its last five games. It also gives The Rock four wins in five tries against the teams currently ranked Nos. 2-4 in the PSAC West standings, all of which have at least 10 conference wins.
 
Slippery Rock now sits at 12-10 overall and 7-9 in PSAC action with six games remaining in the regular season. The Rock own a season sweep over second place Mercyhurst (15-6, 12-5 PSAC), are 1-1 against Edinboro (12-8, 11-6 PSAC) and are 1-0 against Pitt-Johnstown (14-7, 10-6).
 
Wednesday night's game marked one of Slippery Rock's best overall efforts on the season as The Rock shot 50.9 percent from the field, held Edinboro to just 38.9 percent shooting and posted a 42-26 rebounding advantage. While those numbers could have led to a big margin on the scoreboard, the Fighting Scots stayed in the game by getting to the free throw line and converting 30-of-39 attempts, while SRU missed 13 shots from the charity stripe to keep the game close.
 
In total, the game featured 55 personal foul calls and 76 free throw attempts.
 
Slippery Rock led nearly wire-to-wire after building a 42-33 halftime lead and extending it to double figures early in the second half.
 
Edinboro would get no closer than five points for nearly the entire second period until Tommy Scales hit a jumper with 2:55 to play that made it a three-point game, 71-68 in favor of SRU. Scales then connected on a pair of free throws with 1:41 to play to cut the deficit to 71-70.
 
Abdul King scored a crucial bucket and hit the free throw after being fouled to give SRU a four-point cushion with 1:19 left. The two teams traded baskets on the next three possessions to make it 76-74 with 34 seconds to play.
 
Jamal Gatali knocked down a pair of free throws on the next Slippery Rock possession with 28 seconds left and Chaquille Pratt came down with a rebound after an Edinboro miss to effectively seal the game with 17 seconds left. King made one free throw and Edinboro missed at the buzzer to account for the final score.
 
The Rock were dominant in the paint all night, led by the one-two punch of Cornelius Brown and Erik Raleigh. Brown finished with a team-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Raleigh chipped in 14 points, five boards and two blocks off the bench.
 
King scored 13 points for his fourth straight double figure scoring effort. He also pulled down five rebounds and handed out three assists. Malcolm Richardson added nine points and a team-high five assists and Juwan Strothers chipped in nine points as well. Pratt finished with just four points in an off-night offensively, but pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock connected on 27-of-53 attempts from the field (50.9 percent), was 14.3 percent from 3-point (1-of-7) and 64.9 percent at the free throw line (24-of-37).
 
Edinboro was paced by Jaymon Mason with 27 points and Wade-Chatman with 18 points. They both went to the free throw line at least 11 times with Mason going 10-of-11 at the charity stripe and Wade-Chatman going 9-of-12. Scales added 10 points in limited minutes after he sat nearly the entire first half after picking up two early fouls.
 
The Fighting Scots shot 38.9 percent from the field (21-of-54), 18.2 percent from 3-point and 76.9 percent from the free throw line (30-of-39).
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to a road test at Seton Hill University Saturday that is set for a 3 p.m. tip. The Griffins are now one-game behind SRU in the PSAC West standings. The Rock will then travel to California next Wednesday before returning home for three straight games against Indiana (Feb. 13), Clarion (Feb. 17) and Gannon (Feb. 20).