GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team lost to Seton Hill University, 53-51, in the final seconds of regulation Saturday in what was a tightly-contested Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division showdown.
 
Slippery Rock led 48-47 with 1:21 to play when Seton Hill's Kameron Taylor hit back-to-back mid-range jump shots over the following 43 seconds to give the Griffins a 51-48 lead with 27 seconds remaining in regulation. However, SRU responded on the ensuing possession after Taylor's second basket when Jamal Gatali hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the contest with 21 seconds showing on the clock.
 
Seton Hill held the ball for the final possession; Taylor drove to the basket with six seconds left and appeared to lose his balance, but Gatali, who was guarding Taylor, was whistled for a foul. Taylor went on to make both free throws. A desperation attempt at the buzzer by The Rock's Chaquille Pratt from just inside of half court was no good and SHU escaped with the win.
 
The loss snaps Slippery Rock's two-game losing streak and drops its record to 12-11 overall and 7-10 in PSAC West play. Seton Hill improved to 9-12 overall and 7-10 in conference competition with the win. With five games remaining in the season, Slippery Rock and Seton Hill are tied for sixth place in the PSAC West standings, but SHU holds the tiebreaker over The Rock by virtue of sweeping the season series. The top six teams in the PSAC West at the end of the year qualify for the conference tournament.
 
Cornelius Brown led The Rock with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was Brown's team-leading 10th of the season. Pratt and Gatali also just missed out on double-doubles. Pratt had eight points and 10 rebounds while Gatali recorded eight points and eight rebounds.
 
Malcolm Richardson added 10 points, four assists and four rebounds. Abdul King chipped in four points and six rebounds while the duo of Maxx Rynd and Erik Raleigh rounded out SRU's scorers with two points each.
 
Slippery Rock shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the field. The Griffins barely fared any better with just a 38.8 percent shooting performance. However, Seton Hill was awarded 18 free throws, 14 of which it made. In contrast, Slippery Rock took just nine free throw attempts the entire game.
 
The Rock and Seton Hill traded baskets for the majority of the first half and with 3:24 to play in the period the game was still tied at 20-20. SHU closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 27-20 lead over The Rock into the break. Slippery Rock did not score for the final 5:56 of the opening half.
 
Seton Hill opened its lead up to a game-high nine points at 33-24 three minutes into the second half before a 19-10 Rock run over the following nine minutes tied the game once again at 43-43 with 8:21 in the second half. There would be three more lead changes over the next seven minutes leading up to Taylor's two successful jumpers and eventual game-winning free throws.
 
Slippery Rock has now lost six games in 2015-16 by six points or less.
 
For the game, SRU held advantages over the Griffins in rebounds (44-30), points in the paint (30-24), offensive rebounds (17-5) and second chance points (18-2). Seton Hill forced The Rock into 17 turnovers while only committing 13 miscues.
 
Taylor scored a game-high 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds for the Griffins. Spencer Cason blocked six shots for the Griffins as well.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back from the defeat with a win 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at California (Pa.).