WEST CHESTER, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team lost to No. 14 West Chester University, 100-82, Saturday night on the road in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover competition.
 
The Rock exits the weekend with a 5-6 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the PSAC while the nationally ranked Golden Rams improve to 11-0 overall and 5-0 in league games.
 
West Chester jumped out to an 18-point halftime lead thanks to strong shooting performance over the opening 20 minutes and then fended off several Slippery Rock comeback efforts in the second half to secure the PSAC crossover victory.
 
Jared Armstrong led three Slippery Rock players in double figures with a team-high 24 points. Armstrong was an efficient 9-for-14 from the field overall and 4-for-5 from 3-point range to go with a pair of free throws.
 
Will Robinson Jr. tallied 21 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal. In his third game played of the season, Micah Till recorded 17 points, six rebounds, one block and one steal.
 
Lashon Lindsey grabbed seven rebounds, Deontae Robertson scored seven points and Amante Britt had two steals and passed out three assists to round out The Rock's top performers Saturday.
 
West Chester made three of its first four 3-point attempts and five of its opening nine field goals overall to force The Rock to call a timeout four minutes into the first half trailing the Golden Rams 13-5.
 
Slippery Rock withstood WCU's early barrage of 3-pointers to go on a 15-9 run over the following seven minutes to pull to within two points at 22-20. A 3-pointer by Robinson Jr. capped off the run and forced West Chester to take a timeout with 9:40 remaining in the half.
 
However, West Chester responded to The Rock's run with a spurt of its own as the Golden Rams went on to score 20 of the game's next 23 points to push its lead out to 19 points (42-23) with four minutes to play in the first half, eventually taking a 56-38 advantage into halftime.
 
Slippery Rock shot a stellar 46.6 percent from the field in the first half, but West Chester was nearly automatic from deep as it connected on 9-of-13 3-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
 
SRU cut West Chester's lead to as little as 12 points on several occasions in the second half, but could never quite make a final push to truly threaten the Golden Rams at any point as WCU managed to maintain its undefeated record with the 18-point victory.
 
Slippery Rock ended the night shooting 42.9 percent (27-of-63) overall, 36 percent (9-of-25) from 3-point range and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) at the foul line. Both SRU and West Chester committed 11 turnovers with The Rock holding a 7-4 advantage in steals.
 
The Golden Rams earned the win behind a 46.9 percent (30-of-64) shooting night overall that included a 54.5 percent (12-of-22) showing from 3-point territory and a 90.3 percent (28-of-31) effort at the free throw line. WCU also held a 43-33 edge in rebounds over SRU.
 
Robbie Heath paced West Chester with a double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock will break for the holidays and return to action Jan. 3 at Clarion University in the PSAC West opener. The Rock will then be back home for the first time in the new year when Cal U visits Jan. 6.
 
 

To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).