JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team's season came to an end Monday night following a 76-73 loss on the road at Pitt-Johnstown in the opening round of the 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
Slippery Rock ends the year with an overall record of 17-12 while Pitt-Johnstown's win improves its record 20-9 in 2022-23 and sends the Mountain Cats into the PSAC Tournament quarterfinals where it will play Wednesday at Mercyhurst University.
 
Monday's game was the latest installment in what has become a great series between The Rock and Mountain Cats. The last eight games between the two teams have been decided by an average of just 3.3 points. SRU and UPJ split the regular season series this year with each winning on their respective home courts.
 
SRU had four athletes finish in double figures with the duo of Lashon Lindsey and Amante Britt leading the way at 15 points apiece. Lindsey also added a team-best five rebounds while Britt collected four assists and one steal.
 
Britt leaves The Rock as the program's all-time leader in games started (115) in addition to ranking third in minutes played (3,203), fourth in assists (339), fourth in games played (115), sixth in steals (146), ninth in made 3-pointers (112) and 23rd in scoring (1,065).
 
Jonathan McFall, who was also playing in his final collegiate game, went for 13 points, two blocks and one steal. McFall exits Slippery Rock ranked 18th in school history with 50 career blocks.
 
Khalid Gates came off the bench to score 11 points, grab four rebounds and make two assists. Gates' 404 points scored in 2022-23 is the 11th highest total by a first-year transfer ever at The Rock.
 
Rounding out Slippery Rock's top contributors was Jomo Goings with eight points and Bobby Clifford, who posted a six-point, four-rebound performance.
 
Pitt-Johnstown held an eight-point lead eight minutes regulation only for Slippery Rock to trim its deficit to just three points at 37-34 heading into the halftime break.
 
Slippery Rock held UPJ scoreless for the first 4:29 of the second half as SRU built a slight 40-37 advantage courtesy of a 6-0 run. The Rock would lead for majority of the second half, eventually building an eight-point, 66-58, edge with 4:11 to play.
 
However, The Mountain Cats, who are now 13-2 in home games this season, battled back to erase The Rock's advantage with an 11-3 run which made it a 69-69 contest with 75 seconds remaining in the contest.
 
On Pitt-Johnstown's next possession, Andrew Shull gave UPJ its first lead of the half when he was awarded three foul shots, all of which were successful. Slippery Rock cut into Pitt-Johnstown's brief lead with two foul shots of its own from Gates to make it a 72-71 game and 33 seconds still to play.
 
Slippery Rock and Pitt-Johnstown went on to trade two points swings with UPJ's coming by way of a pair of Drew Magestro foul shots and The Rock's on a McFall layup that was quickly followed by another SRU foul with 15 seconds to play, sending Magestro back to the line.
 
After missing his first attempt, Magestro connected on his second free throw to give Pitt-Johnstown a 75-73 advantage. McFall made a strong drove to the hoop on the next possession, but his attempt was off the mark and UPJ's Joe Batt was able to pull in the rebound before being fouled. Batt sealed the win by making both of his free throw attempts to give Mountain Cats their 77-73 win.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field overall, 30 percent (3-of-10) from 3-point range and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the foul line. SRU committed just six turnovers in the game, the team's lowest total of the season. The Rock also scored 19 points off Pitt-Johnstown's 12 turnovers.
 
Pitt-Johnstown shot 56.5 percent (26-of-46) from the field overall, 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from long range and a near perfect 21-of-25 (84 percent) at the foul line. UPJ held a +8 (29-23) rebounding margin in the win as well. John Paul Kromka went for 22 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals to lead the Mountain Cats.
 
The Rock men's basketball program has now recorded five consecutive winning season that includes an average of 18 victories per year.




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