CLARION, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team fought off an uncharacteristic performance to escape last place Clarion University with a 61-60 win Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from the Clarion Recreation Center.
 
The victory improves Slippery Rock to 18-7 overall and 15-3 in PSAC games and moves The Rock closer to locking up a first round bye in the upcoming PSAC playoffs. SRU, which is just a half-game behind Indiana (Pa.) for first place in the division standings, can guarantee itself a first round bye and a quarterfinal home game with one more win in its final three games or a loss by Mercyhurst in any of its final four games. Clarion drops to 5-17 overall and 3-14 in PSAC games with the loss.
 
Slippery Rock had to battle all afternoon Saturday and endured one of its sloppiest performances of the season to come away with the win. After scoring 97 points against Clarion in the first meeting this year, SRU was held to just 27 points and nine made field goals in the first half Saturday.
 
Those 27 points were enough to give The Rock a halftime lead, however, after Clarion failed to score for the final 8:09 of the first period. SRU went on a 10-0 run during that stretch to take a 27-26 lead into the half.
 
SRU led for most of the second half but could never pull away in the game, even after the Golden Eagles failed to score a single field goal over a stretch of 11:38. The biggest advantage SRU could manage was a seven-point edge midway through the second half. Clarion was able to chip away at that margin and took their first lead of the second half with just 2:35 to play.
 
The Clarion lead reached three points and wouldn't be erased until there was just 10 seconds left in the game when Vinny Lasley converted a wide-open layup under the hoop after a perfect feed from Nolen Gerald that made it 61-60.
 
Clarion got one good look at a mid-range jumper for the win with three seconds left, but the shot caromed off to seal the win for SRU.
 
The Golden Eagles finished the game with advantages in nearly every statistical category, including a 44-32 edge in total rebounds. Clarion shot 42.6 percent from the field (23-of-54), 42.9 percent from 3-point (6-of-14) and 57.1 percent from the free throw line (8-of-14).
 
Slippery Rock shot just 36.1 percent from the field (22-of-61), 33.3 percent from 3-point (9-of-27) and 61.5 percent from the free throw line (8-of-13). The Rock finished with nine steals and six blocks and took advantage of 20 Clarion turnovers, which resulted in a 19-10 edge in points off turnovers for SRU.
 
John Warren II led Slippery Rock with a game-high 13 points. Nolen Gerald added 10 points and four assists as the only other SRU player to reach double figures. Vinny Lasley scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Jared Armstrong and Will Bounds each scored eight points and Amante Britt scored seven points.
 
Slippery Rock played without the services of All-American Micah Till for the third straight game and improved to 3-0 without Till in the lineup, despite missing his 21.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
 
Clarion was led by RJ Laugand with 13 points, while Elijah Cottrill added 11 points and Lawrence Lemon and Jonathan Williams each scored 10 points.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to a home game against Edinboro University Wednesday night at Morrow Field House, where a win would lock up a first round bye in the PSAC playoffs.
 

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