JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team saw its season come to an end with an 85-78 loss on the road at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Monday night in the opening round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
A combination of a slow start and late foul trouble proved to be too much for Slippery Rock to overcome. The Rock shot under 35 percent in the first half as UPJ jumped out to a 39-26 halftime advantage. The Mountain Cats hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to extend the lead to a game-high 16 points with 19:34 to play, but SRU would storm back from there.
 
The Rock ripped off a 14-0 run to jump right back into the game and completed the comeback to take their first lead of the second half with 5:36 to play. The teams traded the lead three times from there until SRU led 71-69 with 3:08 to play.
 
It was at that point in time that the late game foul trouble took over and killed the momentum for SRU. Micah Till, Lashon Lindsey and Amante Britt all fouled out of the game and Pitt-Johnstown went to the free throw line 13 times in the final 2:51, connecting on 12 of those attempts to put the game out of reach. The Mountain Cats finished the game 25-of-27 from the free throw line, outscoring SRU 25-11 at the stripe to offset The Rock's 13 made 3-pointers and 67-60 advantage in scoring from the floor.
 
Third-seeded Pitt-Johnstown improves to 22-8 overall and advances to the second round of the PSAC Tournament Wednesday night at No. 2 Mercyhurst. Slippery Rock closes its season with a 15-14 overall record.
 
Fouling out in the final minutes wasn't the way Till wanted to close his career, but can't put a damper on one of the best careers in program history. The senior finishes his three years at The Rock with 1,493 points to rank fourth in program history in scoring, despite playing in just 73 games. Till leaves SRU as the only player in program history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 steals, 100 blocks and 100 assists.
 
Donovan Walker closed his career with his best effort, finishing with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go along with five assists. Deontae Robertson also posted a career-high of 22 points as he and Walker combined to carry the bulk of the load for the guards with Jared Armstrong missing the game with an injury and Amante Britt being limited by foul trouble.
 
Lashon Lindsey scored six points and Will Robinson Jr. scored five points.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game shooting 40.9 percent from the field (27-of-66) after shooting 51.5 percent in the second half. The Rock knocked down 13-of-29 attempts from 3-point (44.8 percent) and were 78.6 percent at the free throw line (11-of-14).
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 52.8 percent from the field (28-of-53), 25.0 percent from 3-point (4-of-16) and 92.6 percent from the free throw line (25-of-27). The Mountain Cats posted a 37-29 advantage in rebounding and outscored SRU 38-18 in the paint.
 
John Paul Kromka scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Josh Wise added 17 points to lead UPJ.
 
Slippery Rock head coach Ian Grady closes his second season in charge of the program with 34 total wins, tied with West Chester head coach Damien Blair for the most wins over the first two years of a career among all 18 head coaches in the PSAC.
 
 

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