SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end Saturday afternoon in a 75-69 loss to Mercyhurst University on Senior Day from Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock finish the regular season with a 15-13 overall record and an 11-11 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference games. Slippery Rock will be the No. 6 seed in the PSAC West and will travel to third seed Pitt-Johnstown Monday night for a 7 p.m. tip in the first round of the PSAC Tournament. Mercyhurst won its ninth straight game to improve to 19-7 overall and 17-5 in PSAC games. The Lakers are the No. 2 seed in the PSAC West and will host the winner of SRU and UPJ in the second round Wednesday night.
 
Slippery Rock started slow and never recovered Saturday afternoon as Mercyhurst led for more than 35 minutes. The Lakers built a 12-point lead midway through the first half before SRU narrowed the gap to 35-30 at the break.
 
Mercyhurst pushed the advantage out to a game-high 14 points at 57-43 with 9:36 to play and the margin was too large for SRU to overcome. The Rock stole the momentum back with a 15-5 run that was capped by a steal and a breakaway dunk from Micah Till to make it 62-58 with 4:01 to play, but the momentum slipped away coming out of the following media timeout. Mercyhurst went on a 7-0 run to quickly push the advantage back to 11 points with 2:16 to play and SRU would get no closer than four points in the closing minute.
 
Till scored a game-high 23 points in his final home game of a storied career. He moved into fourth on the all-time scoring list at The Rock with 1,483 points in just 72 games. He needs 17 more points to become the fourth player in program history to score 1,500 points. Till also grabbed six rebounds, drew 10 fouls, blocked two shots, had three steals and handed out three assists.
 
Jared Armstrong scored 14 points that included four made 3-pointers, which ties him with Dennis Greene (1993-95) for the most 3-pointers over a two-year stretch in program history (124).  Armstrong also handed out four assists and had five rebounds.
 
Lashon Lindsey tallied 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots for the only other SRU player in double figures. Will Robinson Jr. added nine points and Deontae Robertson scored seven points.
 
Slippery Rock struggled on the offensive end of the floor and finished the game shooting 37.5 percent from the field (24-of-64), 35.7 percent from 3-point (10-of-28) and 61.1 percent at the free throw line (11-of-18). The Rock outrebounded Mercyhurst by 17 in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season, but was outrebounded Saturday by a 40-33 margin as the Lakers outscored SRU 34-26 in the paint.
 
Mercyhurst shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-of-55), 36.0 percent from 3-point (9-of-25) and 70.6 percent at the free throw line (12-of-17).
 
MiyKah McIntosh led the Lakers with 19 points, while Cameron Gross added 17 points and seven rebounds and Zach McIntire scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
 
The Rock honored their four seniors Saturday during a pregame ceremony with Armstrong, Till, Robinson and Donovan Walker being recognized for their contributions to the program.
 
Slippery Rock will quickly shift its focus to Monday night's PSAC Tournament opener at Pitt-Johnstown. The two teams split their season series with each team winning on their home floor by three points. UPJ won 72-69 at home back on Jan. 18 and SRU earned a 78-75 win at home Feb. 12. Game notes for the playoff game will be available Sunday evening at www.RockAthletics.com.



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