BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team went on the road to grab an 85-68 non-conference victory Sunday at D'Youville University.
The win, SRU's first road triumph of the season, improves The Rock's record to 5-1 overall while the host Saints drop to 0-6. Of Slippery Rock's five wins, four have come by double digits. The Rock's average margin of victory in 2025-26 is 16 points.
Across the Atlantic Region, no other team has more victories than Slippery Rock does this season – Seton Hill University and Virginia Union University are both 5-1 as well while Shaw University is 5-0.
Slippery Rock earned its latest victory after playing an efficient game. Not only did SRU commit a season-low 12 turnovers, The Rock also shot 51.5 percent (35-for-68) from the field overall, 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from 3-point range and 80 percent (8-for-10) at the foul line. Slippery Rock has now shot at least 50 percent from the field in four of its six games this year.
SRU also dominated the glass to the tune of a +14 (45-31) rebounding margin with 15 of the rebounds coming on offense, resulting in 20 second chance points: the team's second highest total of the year.
Defensively, The Rock limited D'Youville to shooting percentages of 37.1 overall (23-of-62) and 24.1 (7-for-29) from distance. While the Saints attempted 15 more free throws than SRU, they could only convert 60 percent (15-for-25) of their attempts from the foul line.
Six Slippery Rock athletes finished in double figures as part of another balanced offensive attack.
Elijah Hill collected a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with two steals.
Brady Mayo matched Hill for team-high scoring honors with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists. Hill and Mayo combined to make 13 of their 24 field goal attempts with Mayo connecting on a pair of 3-pointers.
Isaac James came off the bench to produce a 15-point, five-rebound, three-assist outing. In addition to scoring 13 points,
Dame Givner distributed seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
Ike Herster reached double figures for a sixth consecutive game, finishing the road win with 12 points, five rebounds and one steal.
Kerwin Prince made his Slippery Rock debut Sunday. Prince had a productive 10 minutes of playing time as the University of New Orleans transfer went for 10 points and three rebounds, two of which were of the offensive variety. Prince was a near flawless 4-for-5 from the field to go with a pair of successful foul shots.
Rounding out The Rock's top contributors was
Sheick Samoura (3 points, 4 rebounds) and
RJ Sledge (3 assists).
While D'Youville kept the game close for the final five minutes of the first half and the opening six minutes of the second period, Slippery Rock ultimately led for nearly 38 minutes Sunday.
SRU sprinted out to an 11-point, 15-4, lead over the opening five minutes of regulation. Mayo accounted for eight points in the early surge.
D'Youville whittled away at SRU's lead through the remainder of the half, even taking two brief one-point leads, but another Mayo basket with 19 seconds showing on the clock gave SRU a 33-32 edge it would never relinquish heading into the break.
The second half belonged to The Rock as SRU built a multiple possession lead for the near entirety of the final 20 minutes, including a game-high 19-point advantage late in the contest en route to the eventual 17-point win.
Elisha Warren led D'Youville with 17 points, six rebounds and one block.
Slippery Rock returns home to host Lincoln University for a non-conference game 6 p.m. Dec. 4 at Morrow Field House. SRU is a perfect 4-0 at home this year.
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