BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Amante Britt connected on a jumper with three seconds left in regulation to lead the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to an 83-79 comeback victory over Bloomsburg University Saturday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover competition.
The win, Slippery Rock's fifth in its last six games, improves SRU's record to 5-2 on the season overall and a perfect 3-0 in the PSAC. Bloomsburg drops to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in league games in the loss.
A near disastrous first half by Slippery Rock gave way to Bloomsburg establishing a 14-point second-half lead two minutes into the final period before a furious comeback led to SRU trailing the Huskies by just two points with 60 seconds left in regulation.
The Huskies had a chance to push their lead to two possessions in the final minute, but on the ensuing play
Frankie Hughes blocked a BU layup which eventually led to a dunk by
Jonathan McFall that tied the contest at 79-79 with 51 seconds showing on the clock.
The following possession saw Bloomsburg miss what would have been a go-ahead layup before grabbing the offensive rebound only to travel, giving SRU back the ball with 19 seconds left to play and the score still tied.
After a Rock timeout, Britt took the inbounds pass, drove to his left and pulled up for a mid-range jump shot that touched nothing but net as SRU claimed an 81-79 advantage with just three seconds remaining in the game.
Following his clutch shot, Britt went on to force a turnover on the inbounds pass that brought on a pair of
Tyler Frederick foul shot attempts which he calmly made to close out the 83-79 win.
Saturday's game was a continuance of what has been a breakout year for The Rock's veteran point guard as Britt ended the night with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
McFall posted his third 20-point game of the year via a 24-point performance that included an 11-of-20 shooting effort, eight rebounds and one steal. Hughes came up huge defensively for SRU with five steals and two blocks all the while grabbing five rebounds and scoring 11 points.
In what was one of the more physical games of the season for The Rock, Slippery Rock's interior duo of Frederick and
Lashon Lindsey combined for 14 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks.
On a night when SRU by and large struggled from 3-point range,
Dylan Ahearn came off the bench to provide Slippery Rock with three 3-pointers in five attempts in a span of just under three minutes midway through the second half when The Rock was mounting their comeback.
Slippery Rock overcame an opening 20 minutes in which it went 0-for-12 from 3-point range and shot a first-half season-low 32.4 field goal percentage, with a very efficient second half as The Rock connected on 23-of-41 field goals in the final 20 minutes, including a 5-of-12 showing from deep.
Over the entirety of the game, Slippery Rock shot 44.9 percent from the field, 20.8 percent from 3-point range and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the foul line. SRU ended the contest making only 10 turnovers while compiling a +4 advantage in rebounding (40-36) with 18 of the rebounds coming on the offensive glass.
As has been the case for virtually the whole year, The Rock was once again was able to take advantage of their offensive rebounding and defensive prowess as they held a 17-7 advantage over the Huskies in second chance points while scoring 26 points off of 20 Bloomsburg turnovers.
Bloomsburg concluded the game shooting 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field overall, 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from 3-point territory and 64.7 percent (11-of-17) at the foul line. Louie Wild scored 19 points for BU.
Saturday's game featured 17 lead changes and seven ties as The Rock and Huskies traded the lead back-and-forth ## times in game's final eight minutes once SRU erased the 14-point deficit.
SRU has now outscored its opponents 328-257 (+71) in the second half of games this season.
Slippery Rock steps out of conference competition to host Penn State Greater Allegheny 7 p.m. Dec. 8 for the start of a season-long six-game homestand at Morrow Field House that stretches 32 days.
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