SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team earned a 63-57 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory over Shepherd University in overtime Monday at Morrow Field House.
 
The victory snapped SRU's six-game losing streak and improved its record to 2-6 overall and 1-2 inside the PSAC while Shepherd exits The Rock at 3-5 overall and 0-3 in league games. Monday's win was SRU's first overtime triumph since defeating Mercyhurst 92-91 in 2018-19.
 
In what was a defensive battle for the game's duration, Shepherd took a slim 28-25 into the halftime break before The Rock opened the second half by scoring 10 straight points and holding the Rams scoreless for the opening 4:27 on the way to 35-28 lead.
 
SRU went on to stretch its lead out to as many as 10 points at 39-29 six minutes into the second half only for Shepherd to respond with a 15-0 spurt of its own through the proceeding 6:04 of game clock to re-take its lead, 44-39, with 8:16 left in the half.
 
Slippery Rock went on to chip away at the deficit over the remainder of regulation, eventually finding itself trailing 50-48 coming out of a timeout with seven seconds showing on the clock.
 
Maceo Austin served as the inbounder on the ensuing possession before getting the ball back from Lashon Lindsey at the top of the key and proceeding to drive to the basket and draw a foul with 2.6 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Austin calmly stepped to the foul line and converted both attempts to the tie the game followed by SRU holding Shepherd from recording a last-second game-winning attempt to force overtime.
 
The overtime period was controlled by The Rock. Jomo Goings opened the frame with a 3-pointer to give SRU a lead it would never relinquish as Austin continued a dominant showing by scoring eight consecutive points and forcing one steal for The Rock before Goings finished off the win with two final foul shots on the way to a 63-57 win.
 
Austin and Goings ended the game by combining to score 43 of SRU's 63 points. Austin went for 23 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists while Goings contributed a career-high 20 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
 
Goings scored 16 of his career-high point total in the second half and overtime. All told, Goings and Austin made 16 of their 35 combined field goal attempts.
 
Luke Howes and Ja'Mier Fletcher added six points apiece. Howes also produced five assists and five rebounds with Fletcher pulling in five rebounds and blocking one shot.
 
Lashon Lindsey totaled a game-best 10 rebounds in addition to passing out three assists, blocking one shot and coming away with a steal. Off the bench, Mack Staunch collected a career-high four rebounds and Sheick Samoura blocked two shots.
 
Slippery Rock, which made just 39.3 percent (24-of-61) of its total field goals and 23.1 percent (6-of-26) of its attempts from distance, overcame the off shooting night by making 9-of-12 free throws (.750), limiting the Rams to a 33.3 percent (21-of-63) outing from the field and holding a sizable +9 (47-38) rebounding margin.
 
SRU, which entered Monday leading the PSAC in blocked shots, registered seven more rejections in the win.
 
Despite forcing The Rock into 13 turnovers and committing only seven miscues of their own, the Rams scored just three more points off turnovers than SRU (13-10).
 
Dan McClain-Corley scored 14 points to lead Shepherd. Carson Poffenberger (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Marcus Banks (11 points, 8 rebounds) both came just shy of double-doubles as well.
 
Slippery Rock closes out the week with another home PSAC crossover game 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Shippensburg University at Morrow Field House.






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