JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team ended its 2016-17 regular season with a 93-65 loss against Pitt-Johnstown Saturday afternoon at the Sports Center in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Due to the loss by Mercyhurst University at Gannon University earlier in the day, a Slippery Rock win over the Mountain Cats would have clinched the fourth seed and a home game in the first round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament on Feb. 27. Instead, Slippery Rock will enter the tournament as the fifth seed and travel to fourth-seeded Mercyhurst for its opening-round game.
Slippery Rock (14-14, 10-12 PSAC West) traded baskets with Pitt-Johnstown (18-10, 13-9 PSAC West) over the opening four minutes of regulation and trailed UPJ by just one point at 10-9 with 15:49 to play in the half.
However, Slippery Rock's offense proceeded to go cold as it managed to score just four points over the next 9:59. Conversely, Pitt-Johnstown couldn't seem to miss over the the 10-minute stretch, making 10 of its next 14 field goals, including three 3-pointers, on what would ultimately turn into a 26-4 run that gave the Mountain Cats a commanding 36-13 lead with 5:50 to play in the half.
Slippery Rock could never recover from Pitt-Johnstown's decisive run. The Mountain Cats went on to push its advantage out to 28 points at halftime and would lead by as many as 36 points in the second half en route to the 93-65 victory. The 93 points were the most allowed in a game by Slippery Rock this season and the second most in the last six years.
SRU shot 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the field overall, 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from 3-point range and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the free throw line.
George Chase scored a team-high 14 points while also collecting four rebounds and blocking one shot.
Naquil Jones added 12 points and the duo of
Tony Gates and
Guilherme Verardo scored eight points apiece. Verardo also had six rebounds, two steals and one block in addition to his season-high scoring total.
Jordan Marrow chipped in five points, six rebounds and four assists while
Christal Malalu rounded out SRU's top performers with five points and five rebounds.
Pitt-Johnstown was led by the duo of Levi Masua and A.J. Leahey. Masua posted game-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds while Leahey scored 19 points. For the game, UPJ shot 56.1 percent (37-of-66) from the field, 40 percent (6-of-15) from 3-point territory and 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw line. The Mountain Cats also held advantages over SRU in rebounds (37-30) and turnovers committed (4-15).
SRU will be making its seventh trip to the conference tournament under ninth-year head coach
Kevin Reynolds. Slippery Rock, which has one at least one conference tournament game in five of its past six trips to the postseason tournament, has won its last two games played at Mercyhurst.
Tipoff at Mercyhurst is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from the Mercyhurst Athletic Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.
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