SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Mercyhurst University closed the first half on a 13-0 run and extended that to out to a 25-6 run over a nine-minute stretch in the middle of the game en route to posting an 81-72 road win at Slippery Rock University Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
The game featured nine ties and nine lead changes in the opening 16 minutes before Mercyhurst closed the half on a 13-0 run, which included a perfect 5-for-5 effort at the free throw line. That effort put the Lakers on top 41-30 at the break.
 
A 12-6 run to start the second half capped off the 25-6 total run and gave the visitors a 17-point advantage, 53-36 with 14:28 to play.
 
Slippery Rock responded with a dominant 16-2 run over a span of 3:42 in which the hosts were perfect on all nine of their shot attempts. SRU went 5-for-5 from the field, 2-for-2 from 3-point and 4-for-4 at the free throw line to cut the deficit to three points, 55-52, with 10:46 to play.
 
Mercyhurst was able to stop the momentum with a 3-pointer from Connor Polce with 9:13 to play, not allowing The Rock a chance to tie the game. SRU would cut the deficit back to three points on two more occasions, the last time coming at 60-57 with 5:52 to play.
 
From there, Mercyhurst put together a 7-1 run to extend the lead back out to nine points in what was the final decisive run of the game. The Lakers were solid at the line down the stretch, never allowing SRU to close the gap.
 
The game was crucial for both teams' playoff hopes as Slippery Rock entered the night in fourth place in the league standings, a half-game up on Mercyhurst. The Rock drop to 12-12 overall and 8-10 in PSAC games, falling into a tie with Seton Hill for fifth in the PSAC West, while the Lakers improve to 10-11 overall and 8-9 in league games, jumping SRU into fourth place. The Rock own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Seton Hill and both teams are 2.5 games ahead of seventh place California (Pa.). The top six teams in the standings will qualify for the PSAC playoffs at the end of the regular season.
 
Mercyhurst put together a much better offensive showing on the road against Slippery Rock than it did at home in the first meeting between the teams back in January, when the Lakers shot just 28 percent and scored 46 total points. They nearly reached that total in the first half Wednesday and finished the game shooting 44.2 percent from the field (23-of-52), 41.2 percent from 3-point (7-of-17) and 77.8 percent at the free throw line (28-of-36).
 
Slippery Rock shot 35.9 percent from the field (23-of-64), 23.5 percent from 3-point (4-of-17) and 84.6 percent at the free throw line (22-of-26). Nine of those made free throws (9-of-10) came in the final four minutes. The Rock posted a 40-34 edge in total rebounds, including a 16-7 advantage in offensive boards that led to a 15-5 difference in second chance scoring.
 
Naquil Jones had his sixth 20-point outing of the season to lead Slippery Rock with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He also hit 9-of-10 free throws, grabbed five rebounds and handed out three assists. Merdic Green also went over the 20-point mark and finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.
 
Christal Malalu nearly had a double-double in the first half, but sat for most of the second half with foul trouble and finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Tony Gates and George Chase each scored five points and Amir Maddred and Jordan Marrow closed the scoring with four points each.
 
Mercyhurst was led by a game-high 28-point showing from Durrell McDonald, who was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Dajuan Dent added 12 points and Kordell Holness-Lightbody scored 11 points.
 
Slippery Rock will have the weekend off as its scheduled league bye date is this Saturday and will return to action next Wednesday with a road game at Clarion.