SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team snapped Gannon University's nine-game winning streak by leading wire-to-wire in a 72-61 win Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
Gannon (13-6, 9-4 PSAC) entered the game as the hottest team in the PSAC with a nine-game winning streak and a 6-0 record against PSAC Western Division teams. Slippery Rock (16-4, 10-4 PSAC) scored the first points of the game just 20 seconds in and never trailed on the way to moving ahead of the Golden Knights and into second place in the PSAC West standings. The Rock now trail division favorite Indiana (Pa.) by two games in the standings and will host the Crimson Hawks next Wednesday.
 
Slippery Rock held Gannon to just eight made field goals in the first half (27.6 percent) in building a 33-25 halftime lead. The Rock pushed the advantage out to double figures for most of the second half before the Golden Knights cut it to six points with 9:05 to play, but SRU quickly responded and pushed the advantage back out to 12 points. Gannon never seriously threatened down the stretch.  
 
The game featured the top two rebounding teams in the PSAC with SRU leading the nation at +13.0 in rebounding margin and Gannon averaging 10.3 more rebounds per game than its opponents. Slippery Rock won that battle convincingly, posting a 46-36 advantage in total rebounds and turning 19 offensive boards into 28 second-chance points.
 
The Rock finished the night shooting just 39.3 percent from the field (24-of-61) and 28.6 percent from 3-point (4-of-14), but knocked down 20-of-30 free throws (66.7 percent) to go along with the massive advantage on the glass. Gannon fared even worse in the shooting department as SRU held the Golden Knights to just 38.7 percent from the field (24-of-62), 22.2 percent from 3-point (2-of-9) and 78.6 percent at the free throw line (11-of-14).
 
Slippery Rock entered the game leading the nation in total blocked shots and will likely stay out front in that department after blocking 11 shots in the game, including eight in the first half alone. Brandon Simmons matched his career-high with five blocks and now has 55 blocks on the year, closing in on Kevin Jones' single-season record of 68 from 1990-91.
 
Micah Till recorded his 14th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead SRU. Christal Malalu also registered a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Bruce Spruell added 17 points and two blocked shots.
 
Merdic Green scored nine points and grabbed five boards and Khyree Wooten added eight points.
 
Gannon was paced by a game-high 23 points from Zay Jackson and a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds from Evan Phoenix.
 
Wednesday night marked the end of the first round of divisional play in the PSAC West for SRU, which will open the second round of home-and-home competition Saturday at California University (Pa.). Tip is set for 3 p.m.
 

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