SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team clinched a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoff spot with a 74-68 overtime victory against Seton Hill University Saturday at Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock (18-5, 12-5 PSAC) had to gut out one of their worst overall performances of the season to get the victory after trailing for 36:04 and leading for just 13 seconds during regulation. Seton Hill (8-14, 5-12 PSAC) took advantage of Slippery Rock's shooting woes and led by as many as 11 points during regulation.
 
The Griffins led by seven points, 61-54, with 3:13 to play before Gabe Mack and Bruce Spruell combined on a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to one-point with 1:31 to play. Seton Hill responded with a layup from Spencer Casson to push the lead out to 63-60 with 1:07 to play before Spruell hit a layup on the other end with 49 seconds left to make it 63-62. Brandon Simmons came up with a steal on the other end and Spruell hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 63-63 with 14 seconds left.
 
Seton Hill's Nathan Davis got a look at the buzzer, but it missed long off the back of the iron to send the game to overtime.
 
Khyree Wooten blocked a 3-point attempt on the first SHU possession of overtime and hit a layup in transition the other way to give SRU its second lead of the game just 24 seconds into the extra period. The Rock would never trail from there, opening up a six-point lead and never allowing Seton Hill to get closer than three points.
 
Slippery Rock shot below 30 percent for most of regulation before turning it on late to finish the day shooting 35.1 percent from the field (26-of-74) and 9.1 percent from 3-point (1-of-11). The bright spot for SRU in the shooting game Saturday was one of its better free throw shooting performances of the season at 70 percent (21-of-30), which marked just the sixth time this year the team has shot at least 70 percent at the free throw line in a single-game. The Rock posted a convincing 63-44 edge in total rebounds, but only turned 20 offensive boards into 12 second-chance points.
 
Seton Hill shot 34.2 percent from the field (25-of-73), 26.3 percent from 3-point (5-of-19) and 59.1 percent at the free throw line (13-of-22). The Griffins handed out 15 assists on their 25 made field goals to just six assists for SRU.
 
Spruell scored 19 points in the second half and overtime to finish with a game-high 23 points, including a solid 9-of-12 effort at the free throw line. Micah Till recorded his 16th double-double of the year with 15 points and a career-high 27 rebounds. His rebounding total is the most in the PSAC in a single-game this year by a wide margin, topping his previous season-high of 20, and marks the fifth most rebounds in a single-game in program history.
 
Wooten finished with 14 points and eight rebounds and Mack added seven points off the bench. Christal Malalu chipped in six points and Simmons finished the night with six rebounds and three blocks in just 19 minutes after dealing with foul trouble.
 
Seton Hill was led by Casson with 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Davis finished with 15 points and three assists and Trevor Blondin, who entered the game averaging more than 21 points per game, scored 14 points on a 5-of-25 shooting effort.
 
Slippery Rock currently sits second in the PSAC West standings with five games remaining in the regular season. If The Rock can stay in the top two, they will earn a first round bye in the conference tournament and the right to host a quarterfinal game. Their next challenge will come Wednesday night on the road at Mercyhurst University with tip set for 7:30 p.m.
 
 

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