SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team remained undefeated in 2022-23 following a 79-74 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory against Shepherd University Friday.
 
The victory improves The Rock's record to 6-0 overall and 1-0 inside the PSAC while giving SRU just its sixth 6-0 start to a season in program history, which dates back to 1910. Shepherd drops to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC following the home loss.
 
Led by a 24-point, three-rebound, two-steal showing from Amante Britt, Slippery Rock put four players in double figures Friday. Britt, who went 10-for-19 from the field overall, has now scored 18 or more points in all but one game this season.
 
Khalid Gates went 6-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 at the foul line while also connecting on one 3-pointer and grabbing three rebounds on the way to a 16-point contest.
 
Jonathan McFall came off the bench to go for 15 points and three rebounds while Jomo Goings produced 10 points, three rebounds and one steal. Five of Goings points came with the game hanging in the balance during a crucial two-minute stretch midway through the second half.
 
Slippery Rock, and Britt in particular, seemingly couldn't miss to open the game as SRU went 8-for-11 (.727) from the field with Britt accounting for 13 points to give The Rock a 20-13 lead over the home Rams 10 minutes into the first half.
 
The Rock and Rams proceeded to trade baskets for the remainder of the opening half with SRU taking a six-point advantage of 32-26 into the halftime break. Britt scored 15 of The Rock's 32 first-half points while Slippery Rock limited SU to an 8-of-25 shooting performance in the first 20 minutes.
 
Shepherd steadily chipped away at The Rock's lead over the opening eight minutes of the second half and eventually took a one-point lead – its first of the contest – at 48-47 coming out of the under 12 media timeout.
 
However, Goings promptly answered back for The Rock by scoring five uncontested points by way of a 3-pointer followed by a layup and an accompanying successful foul shot. Following Goings heroics, Slippery Rock stretched its lead out to as many as eight points twice over the final 10 minutes.
 
While Shepherd was able to cut SRU's lead to three points on three separate occasions in the game's waning moments, it could never find the game-tying basket thanks in no small part to McFall, who scored six points over the final 41 seconds of regulation to seal a five-point Rock win.
 
Slippery Rock finished the night shooting 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the field overall for what was the team's highest field goal percentage against a Division II team this season. The Rock also went 15-for-19 from the foul line.
 
SRU, which entered the game leading the PSAC in rebounding, pulled down 33 rebounds Friday and held a +6 rebounding margin over the Rams in addition to holding advantages over Shepherd in points off turnovers (14-11) and second chance points (11-5).
 
Rounding out The Rock's leaders were Ahmad Galimore (five points), Bobby Clifford (five points, four rebounds, two steals), Lashon Lindsey (four points, two steals) and Nik Cazacu (four rebounds).
 
After a rough first half, Shepherd shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to finish the game 24-of-53 (.453) overall. The Rams also went 9-of-24 (.375) from 3-point range and a stellar 89.5 percent (17-of-19) at the foul line over the duration of the game.
 
Dan McClarin-Corley scored 18 points and Jon Preston had a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double in the losing effort for Shepherd.
 
Slippery Rock now looks to push its season-opening winning streak to seven games when it travels to Shippensburg University for another PSAC crossover contest 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
 
 
 
 
 
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