SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team snapped a two-game losing skid with a 78-72 victory over Clarion University Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock (10-6, 6-4 PSAC) never trailed in the final 35 minutes of the game and led by as many as 18 points in the second half before Clarion (5-10, 3-7 PSAC) rallied in the final four minutes to trim the deficit to the final margin of six points.
 
Slippery Rock shot 54.7 percent from the field (29-of-53), 21.4 percent from 3-point (3-of-14) and 70.8 percent at the free throw line (17-of-24). The Rock scored 40 points in the paint and converted 11 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. SRU posted a 33-22 edge in total rebounds after entering the game ranked seventh in the nation in rebounding margin at +10.2 boards per game.
 
Clarion shot 57 percent in the second half, but much of the hot shooting came in the final four minutes when the Golden Eagles were trailing by double figures. The visitors finished the game at 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55), 33.3 percent from 3-point (5-of-15) and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (15-of-18).
 
Naquil Jones continued his torrid pace in recent games to lead Slippery Rock with a game-high 21 points. He also handed out seven assists and has now averaged 20.3 points per game over The Rock's last seven games.
 
Vinny Lasley had his best game in a Rock uniform with a career-high 11 points and he also pulled down seven rebounds. Merdic Green added 14 points and Khyree Wooten chipped in 12 points and two blocks. Amir Maddred scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards to give The Rock five players in double figures.
 
Christal Malalu chipped in six points and Jordan Marrow scored four points to round out the scoring for SRU.
 
Clarion was led by Akeem Williams with 16 points and nine rebounds. The forward accounted for nearly half of his team's total rebounds (22). Manny Powell added 11 points and BJ Andrews and Jamani Pierce each scored 10 points.
 
Wednesday night's win snapped a streak of three straight wins for Clarion in the all-time series between the two teams and improved SRU to 6-1 at home on the season and 97-24 at home during the tenure of head coach Kevin Reynolds, which dates back to the 2008-09 season.
 
The Rock will wrap up a stretch of four games in nine days when they travel to East Stroudsburg Saturday for a 3 p.m. game.