JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team dropped a narrow 84-81 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division decision against Pitt-Johnstown Wednesday at The Sports Center in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
 
Slippery Rock exits the game with an 11-10 overall record and a 7-8 mark inside the PSAC. Of SRU's 10 losses this season, seven have come by seven points or less. Pitt-Johnstown improves to 18-5 overall and 14-3 in league games following the win.
 
While Slippery Rock enjoyed its third-best shooting night of the season courtesy of a 48.5 field goal percentage (32-of-66) Pitt-Johnstown countered by connecting on a game-deciding 55 percent (33-for-60) of its field goal attempts including 42.9 percent (9-for-21) of its 3-pointers.
 
UPJ's field goal percentage was the second-highest of the season allowed by The Rock, only topped by the Mountain Cats' 63.8 percent showing versus SRU earlier in the year.
 
Frankie Hughes, who scored 44 points in the first meeting of the season between The Rock and Mountain Cats, was once again SRU's leading scorer as he made five 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 24 points to go with five rebounds and five assists.
 
Jonathan McFall and Tyler Frederick both narrowly missed out on double-doubles as McFall finished the night with 14 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals while Frederick accounted for 15 points and eight rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass.
 
Dylan Ahearn was the fourth Rock player in double figures with 13 points. Bobby Clifford scored seven points, Lashon Lindsey grabbed eight rebounds and Amante Britt passed out three assists to round out SRU's top contributors.
 
Slippery Rock scored the game's first nine points over the opening 90 seconds of regulation to jump out to a solid lead it never relinquished in the first half as SRU shot 50 percent from the field and hit eight 3-pointers on the way to a 44-39 advantage heading into the halftime break.
 
The Mountain Cats, which shot 56 percent in their own right in the first half, pressured SRU coming out of the break as the two teams traded baskets for the opening four minutes before a mini UPJ run resulted in its first lead of the game at 54-52 five minutes into the final period.
 
Pitt-Johnstown went on to push its lead out to as many as six points before SRU answered back to tie the contest at 61-61 with 11 minutes showing on the clock.
 
The Rock and Mountain Cats proceeded to go back-and-forth for the remainder of the game, but with Pitt-Johnstown clinging to a 79-77 lead, Fred Mulbah hit a mid-range jumper that pushed UPJ's advantage to four points with just 36 seconds remaining to effectively seal the game as Pitt-Johnstown made three of its final four foul shots to close out the eventual three-point win.
 
In addition to its solid overall shooting performance, SRU made 11-of-36 3-point attempts (30.6 percent) while going 6-of-8 (75 percent) at the foul line. Slippery Rock held a +13 rebounding advantage (39-26) thanks in no small part to 15 offensive rebounds which resulted in 18 second chance points.
 
Pitt-Johnstown committed just 10 turnovers, the lowest amount by a Rock opponent this season, while forcing SRU into 14 miscues. John Paul Kromka scored 23 points while Mulbah had a double-double of 10 points and 14 assists to lead UPJ.
 
Slippery Rock closes out its three-game road trip 3 p.m. Saturday at Seton Hill University. SRU defeated the Griffins, 70-61, at home earlier in the season.






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