GLENVILLE, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team capped off the first weekend of the 2017-18 season with a convincing 67-55 victory against West Virginia Wesleyan College Sunday afternoon at the Waco Center in Glenville, West Virginia.
 
Slippery Rock overcame an early West Virginia Wesleyan run to lead for final 35 minutes of Saturday's game. SRU has now started the season 2-0 for the first time since 2014-15. West Virginia Wesleyan dropped to 0-2 with the loss.
 
A game after guiding The Rock's offensive attack with eight assists, junior guard Bruce Spruell shouldered the scoring load for SRU against the Bobcats with a game-high 27 points. Spruell, who also led Slippery Rock with three assists and two steals Sunday, was a near automatic 11-for-13 from the field overall and 1-for-2 from 3-point range.
 
Redshirt sophomore forward Micah Till overcame a slow start to end the game with 10 points. Senior forward Tony Gates connected on three of his four 3-point attempts to finish with nine points in addition to grabbing a team-best five rebounds, blocking one shot and making one steal.
 
The trio of senior forward Richard Bivens, redshirt senior guard Khyree Wooten and junior forward Brandon Simmons grabbed four rebounds each while redshirt junior guard Aaron McDonald scored eight points, made one steal and blocked one shot to round out SRU's top performers against the Bobcats.
 
As a team, Slippery Rock was an efficient 26-for-55 (47.3 percent) from the field overall and 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from 3-point territory. SRU did struggle from the foul line, making just nine of its 17 attempts (52.9 percent). In addition to its great shooting from the field, Slippery Rock also played a smart game with just eight turnovers, its second lowest total in the last 59 contests.
 
Spruell scored The Rock's first seven points off of two driving layups and a corner 3-pointer to pull Slippery Rock to within one point of the Bobcats through the opening four minutes. Slippery Rock proceeded to break the game open over the next 12 minutes with a decisive 24-11 run to take a 31-19 lead with 3:45 remaining in the half. Spruell scored 10 points and Gates made three 3-pointers over the spurt.
 
SRU and Wesleyan traded baskets over the remainder of the half, sending The Rock into the break leading 35-23.
 
Spruell and Gates combined to score 26 of The Rock's 35 first half points. Defensively, Slippery Rock forced five turnovers and held Wesleyan to a 33.3 field goal percentage (8-for-24) in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bobcats hung with Slippery Rock for the opening portion of the second half, even cutting their deficit to as little as eight points at 46-38 with 10:42 to play before SRU put any thoughts of Wesleyan comeback to rest with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to put the game away.
 
Slippery Rock made 52.4 percent (11-of-21) of its field goal attempts in the second half.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan was led by Aaron Ariri, who had a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Bobcats concluded the contest shooting 42.9 percent (21-for-49) from the field, 23.1 percent (3-for-13) from distance and 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from the foul line while committing 11 turnovers and holding a 37-31 edge in rebounding.
 
Slippery Rock opens Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition when it hosts eighth-ranked Shippensburg University in a crossover game 3 p.m. Nov. 18 at Morrow Field House.
 
 
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