EDINBORO, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team withstood a late Edinboro comeback bid to earn an 81-74 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division road victory Monday.  
 
While the Fighting Scots did cut a 17-point SRU lead down to as little as three points with three minutes to go in regulation, Slippery Rock ultimately never relinquished its advantage as it closed out the win – The Rock's fifth in their last seven games.
 
Slippery Rock led for over 35 minutes Monday and did not trail Edinboro for the final 36:10 of regulation. With the win, SRU improves its record to 9-10 overall and 7-6 inside the PSAC while Edinboro drops to 5-14 overall and 4-9 in conference competition.
 
The Rock placed three players in double figures led by Maceo Austin, who recorded a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Austin, the PSAC's sixth leading scorer, earned his eighth 20-point game of 2023-24 by shooting an efficient 9-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 at the foul line.
 
Ike Herster went for 18 points while matching Jomo Goings for team-high honors in assists with three. Bobby Clifford made his first start of the season and responded by providing SRU with 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks over 39 minutes.
 
Goings and Luke Howes chipped in nine and eight points, respectively, with Goings also grabbing eight rebounds and passing out his aforementioned three assists while Howes pocked two steals and blocked one shot prior to fouling out.
 
Mack Staunch played the best game of his young collegiate career as the redshirt freshman came off the bench to provide The Rock with 20 solid minutes on the way to an eight-point, four-rebound, one-assist night.
 
The Rock and Fighting Scots played to a 4-4 tie in the game's opening stages before a fastbreak bucket by Goings at 15:37 gave SRU a lead it never surrendered.
 
Led by Herster's nine first-half points and a defensive effort that held Edinboro without a field goal in the final 8:09 of the opening 20 minutes, Slippery Rock took a 38-23 advantage into the halftime break before stretching the lead out to as many as 17 points at 49-32 with 15:15 to play in regulation.
 
Edinboro slowly chipped away at The Rock's sizable advantage over the following 12 minutes to eventually make it a 70-67 contest with three minutes to play.
 
However, Slippery Rock ended any thoughts of a home comeback for the Fighting Scots by holding Edinboro to just two successful field goals in the final 180 seconds all the while converting 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to finish off the win.
 
Austin in particular was great late as he scored eight of SRU's last 11 points to go with a steal and a block defensively in the game's waning moments.
 
SRU finished the evening with its highest field goal percentage of the year: .571 via a 32-of-56 shooting performance. The Rock also made 70 percent (14-for-20) of their free throw attempts while blocking five shots - just under its PSAC-best season average.
 
Slippery Rock limited Edinboro to a 38 percent (27-for-71) shooting performance from the field overall that included an 8-for-24 (.333) outing from 3-point range. Bernie Blunt, who entered the game ranked second in the PSAC in scoring, registered 21 points but needed 20 field goal attempts to do so.
 
Both teams pulled in 35 rebounds. Edinboro held a slight 13-12 lead in turnovers forced.
 
Slippery Rock continues its busy three-game week 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Mercyhurst University at Morrow Field House.





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