SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – John Warren II knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in overtime, including one in transition with 44 seconds to play that lifted the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to a 71-67 overtime win over Seton Hill University Wednesday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action.
 
The Rock trailed by five points with 3:47 to play, but outscored Seton Hill by a 7-2 margin over the final 2:20 to tie the game at 56-56 to force overtime. Nolen Gerald drove the lane and hit a layup with 10 seconds left for what marked the 10th tie of the game. The Griffins got three looks at a layup in the final 10 seconds, but couldn't convert.
 
The overtime period was a fast-paced, high-scoring affair that drastically differed from what was often a sloppy, poor-shooting performance for both teams in regulation. The teams combined to make five straight shots early in the extra period and made the first six 3-point attempts of the overtime. The biggest of those was the final 3-pointer of the period when Warren took a pass from Jared Armstrong on the right wing and knocked down a shot that put SRU up 69-67 with 44 seconds to play. Warren then came up with a steal on the other end of the floor and Armstrong knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win.
 
The victory marked the fifth in a row for Slippery Rock, which has not lost a game in a full month now dating back to its only PSAC loss at East Stroudsburg Dec. 3. SRU improved to 4-1 in PSAC games and now sits second in the PSAC West with the win. Seton Hill drops to 2-9 overall and 0-5 in PSAC games.
 
Both teams struggled for much of the game to shake off the rust of a nearly two-week long holiday break. They combined to make just 17 field goals and shoot 25 percent in the first half on the way to a 22-22 tie at the break.
 
SRU shot nearly 52 percent in the second half, but couldn't pull away from the Grifins, who shot better than 46 percent from the field and knocked down six 3-pointers as the two teams stayed even through regulation in a game that featured 12 ties and eight lead changes.
 
Micah Till loaded the stat sheet to lead the Slippery Rock attack, finishing with a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds to go along with four blocks, two assists and one steal. Till has now tallied at least 20 points in nine of 12 games this season. He is averaging 22.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 blocks over The Rock's current five-game winning streak.
 
SRU got 67 of its 71 points from five players Wednesday night after being much more balanced over the previous games in the win streak. Gerald finished with 13 points and six rebounds, Armstrong finished with 12 points, Warren finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists and Will Bounds scored nine points and grabbed five boards. The only other points on the night came from Vinny Lasley and Amante Britt, who each tallied two points. Lasley also pulled down seven rebounds.
 
The Rock recovered from a 9-of-37 shooting performance in the first half to finish the game shooting 39.7 percent from the field (29-of-73), which included a 71.4 percent showing in overtime. SRU shot 37.5 percent from 3-point (6-of-16), 70 percent from the free throw line (7-of-10) and outrebounded Seton Hill by a 52-33 margin.
 
The Griffins shot 36.9 percent from the field (24-of-65), 45 percent from 3-point (9-of-20) and 90.9 percent from the free throw line (10-of-11). Trevor Blondin paced the visitors with a game-high 25 points and Nathan Davis added 21 points.
 
Slippery Rock, which has played three straight home games overall and four straight PSAC games at home, will hit the road again this Saturday when it visits Mercyhurst University for a 3 p.m. PSAC West game.
 
 

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