SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team snapped a two-game skid and bolstered its playoff chances with a 71-64 victory over Clarion University Wednesday night in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game from Morrow Field House.
 
The Rock level their overall record at 11-11 on the year with the win and improve to 7-9 in PSAC games. Slippery Rock currently sits in the sixth and final playoff spot in the PSAC West and now has a four-game cushion over both Clarion (3-13) and Seton Hill (3-13) with six regular season games to play. Clarion slipped to 4-18 overall with the loss.
 
Slippery Rock led by as many as 10 points in the first half before Clarion chipped away and clawed back to within three points at 33-30 at halftime. The Rock shot 38.7 percent from the field over the opening 20 minutes, while the Golden Eagles shot 48.0 percent.
 
The Rock led the entire duration of the second half, but didn't put the game away until the closing minutes. The teams traded momentum for much of the period until SRU put together a 7-0 run to open up a 49-41 lead with 9:05 to play.
 
Clarion stormed back with its own 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 49-48 with 7:32 to play, but could never tie or take the lead. Each time the Golden Eagles had a chance to pull ahead, Slippery Rock responded with a short burst.
 
The decisive run came inside the final two minutes when Micah Till took over. The Rock led 59-56 with 1:55 to pay but went on an 8-0 run that spanned less than 90 seconds and opened up an 11-point lead at 67-56 with 29 seconds to play. Till scored all eight of those points and added two more free throws to account for 10 straight SRU points over a stretch of 1:19 inside the final two minutes.
 
Till finished with a season-high 33 points on a 10-of-16 shooting effort from the field. He also went 11-of-12 at the free throw line after drawing nine fouls in the game. The 33 points are the second most in a single-game during Till's career and the most in a regulation game after his career-high of 35 points came in a double overtime game against Mercyhurst last season. Till also grabbed five rebounds, handed out three assists and had three steals Wednesday night. His 33 points bring his career scoring total to 1,354 points in 66 games, moving him past Bob Byler (1,334 points) and Maron Brown (1,339 points) and into sixth on the all-time scoring ledger at SRU.
 
Will Robinson Jr. added 11 points as the only other SRU player in double figures. Donovan Walker and Lashon Lindsey each added seven points off the bench. Jason Fowlkes chipped in five points and had a key block on a breakaway attempt in late in the second half. Revelinio Tholel capped the top performers with four points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock shot 52.2 percent from the field in the second half and made 12-of-14 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes to bounce back from a slow start. The Rock finished the night shooting 44.4 percent from the field (24-of-54), 29.4 percent from 3-point (5-of-17) and 85.7 percent from the free throw line (18-of-21). SRU outrebounded Clarion by a 38-24 margin and outscored the Golden Eagles 20-12 in points off turnovers.
 
Clarion shot 50.0 percent from the field (25-of-50) and 37.5 percent from 3-point (6-of-16), but struggled at the free throw line, shooting 53.3 percent at the stripe (8-of-15).
 
Elijah Cottrill led the Golden Eagles with 23 points and three assists. Stevan Rodriguez added 19 points off the bench and Kaison Branch scored nine points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to a road trip to No. 9 Indiana (Pa.) Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The Crimson Hawks are coming off just their second loss of the season against Mercyhurst last Saturday and had Wednesday night off as their scheduled PSAC bye date.
 
 

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