EDINBORO, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team survived a late scare from Edinboro University to earn an 87-84 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division victory on the road Monday night.
 
While SRU did see a 15-point lead cut down to as little as two points late, it never trailed Edinboro as The Rock ultimately led for 37:34 of a possible 40 minutes Monday.
 
The victory snaps Slippery Rock's three-game losing streak and improves its record to 11-6 overall and 7-4 in the PSAC West while Edinboro falls to 5-11 overall and 3-8 in league competition.  
 
Slippery Rock placed five players in double figures led by Dylan Ahearn, who parlayed a hot start into a season-high 21 points. Ahearn hit five of his eight 3-point attempts on the way to his best offensive output of the season. The freshman sharpshooter has now gone 11-of-20 (.550) from 3-point range over the last five games.
 
Frankie Hughes responded from being held to a season-low three points last Saturday against California by connecting on four 3-pointers en route to a 20-point, four-assist, two-steal night.
 
Tyler Frederick secured his seventh double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow forward Lashon Lindsey blocked three shots and corralled 13 rebounds for what turned out to be a second consecutive double-digit rebounding effort as well.
 
Jonathan McFall came off the bench to score 12 points while Amante Britt rounded out The Rock's top performers by guiding the offense with five assists all the while scoring 10 points and committing just one turnover.
 
Britt's 10 points pushed him over the 500-point plateau for his career and in turn allowed him to become just the 12th player in program history, and first since Aubin Reeves (2010-13), to total at least 500 points and 200 assists in a career.
 
It appeared as if Slippery Rock was going to put the game away early as SRU, in a reversal of recent fortune, came out sharp on the way to a 17-2 lead through the opening four minutes. Ahearn spearheaded the early run by knocking down three 3-pointers and two foul shots for 11 points.
 
Edinboro withstood the onslaught and responded with a 34-15 run of its own over the next 12 minutes to eventually take a four-point lead, 36-32, late in the half. Not to be out done, SRU ended the half strong by scoring 11 of the period's remaining 13 points to take a 43-38 lead into the halftime break.

Slippery Rock grew its lead out to as many as 15 points through the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a seemingly safe 66-51 advantage only for the Fighting Scots to mount a final charge that saw Edinboro outscore SRU by 13 points over the next nine minutes, cutting SRU's lead down to two points at 86-84 with 14 seconds to play.
 
However, Slippery Rock finished off the game as Frederick first converted 1-of-2 foul shots on the ensuing possession while then contesting Deontae Robertson's potential game-tying shot attempt that missed right to close out the three-point victory.
 
After shooting under 41 percent from the field for four straight games, Slippery Rock found its touch in the form of a 29-for-55 showing that resulted in a 52.7 field goal percentage, its second-best performance of the year. SRU also shot 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from 3-point range, the team's top shooting percentage from deep over the last five games.
 
Slippery Rock also enjoyed season-highs in both free throws made (20) and attempted (28). While The Rock shot 71.4 percent overall from the foul line, they converted 8-of-10 free throws over the final 73 seconds of regulation to seal the win.
 
Edinboro finished the night shooting 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the field overall, 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from 3-point range and 69.2 percent (18-of-26) at the foul line. The Fighting Scots had a slight +1 (37-36) advantage in rebounding while forcing SRU into 13 turnovers with an uncharacteristically low 10 miscues of their own. Cyrie Coates scored a game-high 29 points in the losing effort.
 
Slippery Rock remains on the road when it travels to Clarion University 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.





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