SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team picked up its ninth straight victory with a convincing 77-57 win over Mercyhurst University Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Morrow Field House.
 
The nine straight wins are tied for the seventh longest winning streak in program history for Slippery Rock, which improved to 11-2 overall and 5-2 in PSAC games. Mercyhurst saw its season records slip to 5-5 overall and 2-4 in league games.
 
The Rock can tie for the fourth longest streak in school history with their 10th straight win when California (Pa.) visits Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip. The last team to win 10 straight games in a single-season at SRU was the 2009-10 team, while the program record that was set in 1989-90 stands at 16 straight wins.
 
Mercyhurst came out of the gates strong and jumped out to an 11-2 lead just 5:03 into the game. Slippery Rock wasted little time in erasing that deficit after putting together a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to break open a 19-13 lead with 8:48 to play in the first half.
 
The Rock would never trail again, building the advantage up to 40-29 at halftime and never letting the Lakers get back to within single-digits in the second half.
 
Slippery Rock put together a solid shooting effort from the field and from 3-point, which offset a poor shooting effort at the free throw line. The Rock finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field (29-of-61), 41.2 percent from 3-point (7-of-17) and 57.1 percent at the free throw line (12-of-21).
 
Mercyhurst was held to just 30.2 percent from the field (19-of-63) and 18.8 percent from 3-point (3-of-16), but fared better at the charity stripe, going 76.2 percent from the foul line (16-of-21). SRU posted a 46-35 edge in total rebounds and got 38 points from its bench.
 
With a rare off-night and foul trouble from leading scorer Micah Till, who finished with just four points but still had 11 rebounds and three blocks, The Rock looked elsewhere for a balanced scoring effort with eight players contributing to the point total.
 
Christal Malalu and Khyree Wooten finished with game-high honors with 16 points each. Malalu was 8-of-9 from the field and grabbed six boards before fouling out, while Wooten was 6-of-8 from the field with both misses coming from deep.

MBK: Under 7 minutes to play and Slippery Rock is well on its way to a ninth straight win with a 67-50 lead on Mercyhurst. Christal Malalu with another big dunk. He now has 16 points. pic.twitter.com/ZPYnWTNtMf

— Rock Athletics (@Rock_Athletics) January 4, 2018

Bruce Spruell added 13 points, six assists and two blocks off the bench. Brandon Simmons just missed out on his second straight double-double after scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking three shots. Tony Gates scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds and Merdic Green capped the top scorers with eight points. Aaron McDonald added two points and matched Spruell with a game-high six assists.
 
Mercyhurst had just one player in double figures with Malcolm Walters leading the way with 12 points and three assists. The Lakers' leading scorer, Lorenzo Collier, entered the game averaging 16.8 points per game but was held to just one point after an 0-for-8 shooting effort. Derrick Ellis scored eight points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock, which has the third longest active winning streak in the Atlantic Region currently (West Liberty and West Chester are both 11-0) will look for its 10th straight win Saturday when California (Pa.) visits Morrow Field House for a 3 p.m. tip.



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