ERIE, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team closed out its regular season schedule with an 80-65 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division loss at No. 17 Mercyhurst University Saturday.
 
The loss snaps The Rock's six-game winning streak and drops their record to 17-11 overall and 13-9 in league games while the nationally ranked Lakers improve to 23-5 overall and 17-5 in the PSAC.
 
With the regular season complete The Rock now turn their sights on the postseason beginning with its first round PSAC Tournament game Monday (Feb. 28) at California University (Pa.).
 
Tyler Frederick paced The Rock's efforts Saturday by recording his fifth consecutive double-double in the form of a 14-point, 10-rebound, one-block performance. Eight of Frederick's rebounds came on the offensive glass.
 
Bobby Clifford chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and two assists while Frankie Hughes was the third Rock player to finish in double figures with 11 points in addition to grabbing four rebounds and blocking one shot.
 
Point guard Amante Britt contributed seven points while fellow starter Jonathan McFall fought through foul trouble with four points and three rebounds prior to fouling out.
 
Dylan Ahearn and Lashon Lindsey both had solid games off the bench for SRU. Ahearn scored eight points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field and a 3-for-4 effort at the foul line while Lindsey produced seven points, six rebounds and one block.
 
Slippery Rock held the Lakers scoreless for the opening four minutes as SRU took a 6-0 lead into the first media timeout before the Lakers answered back by scoring 19 of the next 32 points to tie the game at 19-19 midway through the first half.
 
Mercyhurst went on to close out the half on a 17-7 run, opening up a double-digit lead on SRU at 36-26 heading into the halftime break. Slippery Rock cut its deficit to eight points on four occasions in the second half, but never truly threatened Mercyhurst as the Lakers pulled away for the eventual 15-point victory.
 
The Rock limited Mercyhurst to a 37.9 (25-of-66) field goal percentage including a 7-of-25 showing from 3-point range, but the Lakers made 23 of their 24 free throw attempts while SRU could only convert 12-of-20 attempts at the foul line. Mercyhurst also turned 11 Rock turnovers into 13 points while grabbing 16 offensive rebounds which resulted in 25 second chance points.
 
Slippery Rock closed the game shooting 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field overall, 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from 3-point range.
 
SRU and the Vulcans are scheduled to begin their PSAC Tournament game at 6 p.m. from the Convocation Center in California, Pennsylvania. Slippery Rock and Cal U split the season series with each team winning on the other's home floor, including an 87-81 win by SRU on the road five days ago.







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