ERIE, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team held Gannon University to just two points over the final 4:30 of regulation on the way to a 72-68 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division win Wednesday at Gannon.
 
SRU has now won two straight games to improve its record to 14-7 overall and 8-7 inside the PSAC while the Golden Knights drop to 2-17 overall and 2-13 in league games after suffering their ninth single-digit loss of the year.
 
The win, combined with The Rock's 83-69 victory against Gannon at Morrow Field House earlier in the year, gives SRU a season sweep of the Golden Knights for a second consecutive year.
 
Lashon Lindsey recorded his second double-double in as many games following a 15-point, 12-rebound, one-block performance. Lindsey connected on two 3-pointers while shooting 6-of-10 from the field overall.
 
Amante Britt matched Lindsey for team-high point honors on the night in what was a 15-point, three-assist, one-steal effort for The Rock's senior point guard. Britt is now 20 points away from becoming the 24th athlete in program history score 1,000 career points.
 
Jomo Goings, who made his first start since Dec. 3, added 14 points, three assists and a pair of steals as well.
 
Khalid Gates just missed out on a double-double of his own after finishing with eight points, 10 rebounds and two assists. Fellow starter Ahmad Galimore chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two assists of his own.
 
Jonathan McFall paced The Rock's reserves with nine points while Bobby Clifford had two points and three rebounds. Nik Cazacu rounded out the top bench performances with two points.
 
Slippery Rock appeared poised to pull away from the host Golden Knights on several occasions, but GU found answers to several SRU runs to keep it a close contest until the final seconds of regulation.
 
The Rock led by 12 points through the game's opening 11 minutes only for Gannon to cut SRU's lead in half at 34-28 heading into halftime.
 
Slippery Rock stretched its lead back out to eight points through the first five minutes of the second half, but the Golden Knights once again had an answer as they rattled off nine unanswered points to jump ahead, 49-48, with 13:11 to play.
 
The remainder of the game was a back-and-forth contest as neither team led by more than four points for the remainder of the contest.
 
GU found itself ahead 66-65 with 4:30 to go, but any thoughts of a home upset were halted thanks to a stout defensive effort by SRU in the game's final minutes as Gannon made just one of its final seven field goal attempts in addition to committing three late turnovers.
 
With Gannon's offense being held firmly in check, Slippery Rock scored five straight points courtesy of one Gates foul shot, two free throws from Britt and a Lindsey basket, giving SRU a 70-66 lead it would never relinquish en route to the eventual 72-68 triumph.
 
Another strong shooting second half led to Slippery Rock closing the game with an overall field goal percentage of .456 (26-of-57). SRU also shot 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from 3-point range and 63.6 percent (14-of-22) at the foul line.
 
Gannon shot 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from the field overall, 50 percent (8-of-16) from deep, but just 54.5 percent (6-of-11) at the foul line. Chris Clancy kept the Golden Knights in the game for most of the night as he scored a game-high 20 points thanks in no small part to five 3-pointers.
 
Both teams finished the contest with 37 rebounds while Slippery Rock held a slight edge in turnovers, with just 10 of its own while forcing 12 Gannon miscues.
 
Slippery Rock returns home to host Seton Hill University 3 p.m. Saturday at Morrow Field House. Saturday's game will be The Rock's annual Alumni Game and Black History Month Game.




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