SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to clinch a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoff berth with a 58-50 win over Seton Hill University Saturday in a PSAC West game from Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock climbed above .500 on the year and improved their records to 13-12 overall and 9-10 in PSAC games, guaranteeing at least a No. 6 seed in the PSAC tournament. Slippery Rock's victory also finalizes the six playoff teams from the PSAC West and eliminates Clarion, Seton Hill and Edinboro from postseason play. The Griffins used a tenacious defensive effort to lead much of the second half Saturday, but ran out of steam in the closing minutes to drop to 4-18 overall and 3-15 in PSAC play.
 
Seton Hill led for more than 26 minutes in the game, including leading for 8:48 of the first period and taking a 29-24 advantage into halftime. The Griffins capitalized on 10 SRU turnovers in the opening period and an 0-for-9 shooting effort by The Rock from beyond the 3-point line.
 
Slippery Rock's eventual rally came midway through the second half and signaled just the second time all season that The Rock have won a game in which they trailed at halftime. Prior to Saturday, SRU was just 1-10 when going into halftime with a deficit.
 
Seton Hill built its lead to a game-high 11 points at 45-34 with 11:20 to play before Slippery Rock flipped the script. The hosts outscored the Griffins 24-5 over the final 10 minutes and 11-0 over the final 2:15.
 
Slippery Rock began the push with a pair of free throws from Micah Till and a 3-pointer from Jared Armstrong with 7:28 to play that marked the first made 3-point attempt by SRU all day. The Rock had missed their first 16 attempts from 3-point prior to Armstrong's bucket that cut the deficit to 47-41.
 
Till tacked on a second straight made 3-pointer and Donovan Walker hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 47-47 with 3:35 to play, capping a 13-2 run.
 
Nathan Davis banked in a long 3-pointer late in the shot clock to give Seton Hill a 50-47 lead with 2:42 to play, but The Rock would not allow another point on the defensive end of the floor while rolling up 11 points on the offensive side over the final 2:14.
 
Till scored seven of the final 11 points for Slippery Rock to finish with a game-high 20 points, marking his fourth straight game with at least 20 points. He took over on both ends of the floor in the second half and stuffed the box score with eight rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals and three assists to go along with a 7-of-11 shooting effort. Over his last four games, Till has scored 100 points.
 
Deontae Robertson added 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks as the only other SRU player in double figures. Will Bounds chipped in eight points and seven rebounds off the bench, Armstrong and Walker each scored seven points off the bench and Lashon Lindsey capped the scorers with two points to go along with five rebounds and two blocks.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with 11 blocks and nine steals while holding Seton Hill to 32.0 percent from the field (16-of-50) for one of its best defensive performances of the year. The Griffins made 5-of-10 shots from 3-point in the first half, but just 1-of-8 in the second half to finish 6-of-18 from long range (33.0 percent). SHU was 80.0 percent at the free throw line (12-of-15) with Davis knocking down all seven of his attempts from the stripe on his way to matching Till for game-high honors with 20 points.
 
The Rock shot 42.6 percent from the field (20-of-47), 11.1 percent from 3-point (2-of-18) and 80.0 percent at the free throw line (16-of-20). SRU posted a 36-26 advantage in total rebounds, marking the 12th time in 25 games this season that Slippery Rock has outrebounded its opponent by double digits. That rebounding edge helped lead to a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint and a 19-6 margin in second chance scoring.
 
Saturday's game marked the second straight game that SRU played without second leading scorer and leading rebounder Will Robinson Jr., who was injured last Saturday at IUP.
 
The Rock will have a full week between games for the first time since the semester break with their PSAC bye date scheduled for Wednesday. The team returns to action next Saturday on the road at Gannon University at 3 p.m.
 


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