ERIE, Pa. – Micah Till scored a career-high 35 points, including 12 in overtime to lead the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to a thrilling 92-91 double overtime victory on the road at Mercyhurst University Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action.
 
The Rock trailed by nine points with 6:58 to play in the second half before closing regulation on an 18-9 run to force overtime. SRU started the run with a 10-1 push and tied the game with 1:40 to play on a layup from Jared Armstrong. Both teams had two chances at the go-ahead points in regulation, but could not convert.
 
Mercyhurst hit three straight 3-pointers in the first overtime session and looked to have the game sealed up with a seven-point lead with 50 seconds to play, but SRU wouldn't be denied. Nolen Gerald knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to five points with 48 seconds left. Till stole the ball away and hit a layup with 40 seconds left that cut it to three points and then John Warren II stole the ball away on the next possession and found Till, who stepped back and drilled a contested 3-pointer to tie the game at 86-86 with 12 seconds left. Till then ran the floor and blocked Mercyhurst's final-second shot to force a second overtime.
 
Till continued to dominate in the second extra session, knocking down another 3-pointer and a quick layup to put SRU out front 92-89 with 2:32 to play. He fouled out on the next Mercyhurst possession with 2:08 to play, forcing The Rock to hold off the Lakers without their star on the floor. While the SRU offense failed to score again with Till on the bench, the defense did its job, limiting Mercyhurst to just two made free throws the rest of the way. In total, the Lakers managed just two made free throws over the final 4:22 of the second overtime, which was capped when Vinny Lasley blocked a last-second attempt at the buzzer to seal the win.
 
The victory is the sixth in a row for Slippery Rock and the seventh in the last eight games, a drastic turnaround after the team opened the year at 1-4 through five games. SRU improved to 8-5 overall and 5-1 in PSAC games and will either slide into a three-way tie for first place in the PSAC West or take over sole possession of second place depending on the results of Saturday night's game between Indiana (Pa.) and Pitt-Johnstown. Mercyhurst, which entered the game with a perfect 7-0 record at home, drops to 8-3 overall and 3-3 in PSAC games with the loss.
 
Till topped his former career-high of 32 points to pace The Rock attack with his third straight double-double with 35 points and 11 rebounds. He added five assists and finished his day shooting 13-of-25 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point with two crucial 3-pointers in overtime and a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Till increased his SRU career scoring tally to 933 points in less than two seasons. He already ranks 27th on the career scoring ledger at SRU and is now 67 points shy of becoming the 22nd player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points.
 
Slippery Rock shot 44.9 percent (35-of-78) from the field, 32 percent from 3-point (8-of-25), 77.8 percent at the free throw line (14-of-18) and finished with five players in double figures.
 
Armstrong scored 16 points off the bench, while Lasley added 13 points and six rebounds, Gerald scored 12 points, grabbed six boards and handed out four assists and Warren scored 11 points.
 
Mercyhurst shot 46.5 percent from the field (33-of-71), an impressive 50 percent from 3-point (12-of-24) and 76.5 percent from the free throw line (13-of-17). The Lakers relied on the deep ball to turn a slim halftime deficit into a nine-point second half lead and nearly escaped with a win thanks to the long range shooting. They made four 3-pointers in the second half and four more in overtime, where they shot 4-of-6 from deep.
 
Jason Massey led the Lakers with a double-double of 32 points and 11 rebounds, narrowly being edged by Till for game-high honors. MiyKah McIntosh added 22 points, including four 3-pointers, as the only other player in double figures for the hosts.
 
Slippery Rock will take its six-game winning streak on the road Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip at California (Pa.) before returning home Jan. 12 to host Indiana (Pa.) at 3 p.m.
 
 
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