LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team erased a 20-point deficit in the second half to force overtime, but couldn't quite complete its comeback bid in a 100-93 loss Sunday at Lock Haven.
 
The loss snaps The Rock's seven-game winning streak while dropping its record to 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Meanwhile, Lock Haven improves to 3-6 overall and 1-3 inside the PSAC following its home victory.
 
Freshman guard Dame Givner shouldered the bulk of The Rock's scoring responsibilities Sunday, finishing with 39 points to go with five steals, three assists and three rebounds. Givner connected on three 3-pointers while shooting 11-for-24 from the field overall as well as going 14-for-15 at the foul line.
 
Givner's 39 points are the most by a PSAC athlete this season in addition to being the highest scoring output by a Rock athlete since Frankie Hughes tallied 44 points Jan. 5, 2022 versus Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Kerwin Prince came off the bench to go for 17 points and eight rebounds, five of which were of the offensive variety. Prince has now scored in double figures in each of the last two games while corralling at least seven rebounds in four straight appearances.
 
Brady Mayo also finished in double figures with 14 points as did Elijah Hill at 11 points. Mayo and Hill each pocketed two steals.
 
In what was his first collegiate start, RJ Sledge dished out a game-high eight assists and scored six points while committing just two turnovers. Sledge's eight assists were the most by a Rock athlete in a game this season.
 
Sheick Samoura rounded out SRU's top contributors with six points, five rebounds and two steals off the bench.
 
For just the second time this season, Slippery Rock found itself trailing at the halftime break after Lock Haven shot 56.7 percent from the field (17-for-30) while forcing nine Rock turnovers, which were parlayed into 13 points, to grab a 48-37 lead through 20 minutes.
 
Lock Haven proceeded to grow its lead out to 20 points on three occasions in the second half with the final time being in the form of a 65-45 edge with 13:40 to play in regulation.
 
Undeterred by the sizable margin, Slippery Rock went to work on erasing its largest deficit of the season thanks in no small part to a full court press that helped to account for eight turnovers by Lock Haven in the final 13 minutes of the second half.
 
With the Bald Eagles' offense stymied by SRU's defensive intensity, The Rock's offense came alive down the stretch in the form of a 34-14 run that was capped off by a Prince basket to give SRU a 79-77 lead with 2:53 to play.
 
However, Lock Haven's Dean Coleman-Newsome converted a pair of free throws on the following possession to bring the game back into a 79-79 tie. The Rock and Bald Eagles then traded turnovers and missed shots over the final two minutes with neither team capitalizing with the go-ahead score as the game headed to overtime.
 
SRU was unable to carry over its second-half momentum to the extra five minutes. Lock Haven accounted for nine of the first 11 points in the overtime period to take a lead it would never relinquish en route to an eventual seven-point win.
 
Slippery Rock concluded the game shooting 47.8 percent (32-of-67) from the field overall, 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from 3-point range and 70 percent (21-of-30) from the foul line. The Rock forced Lock Haven into 20 points while ending with 17 miscues of their own. SRU matched a season-high with 13 steals.
 
Lock Haven shot 57.4 percent (31-for-54) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from distance and 78 percent (32-for-41) at the foul line. The Bald Eagles held a +4 (33-29) rebounding margin in the win. Keith Warren scored 22 points in the win.
 
Slippery Rock breaks for 11 days before returning to competition for two final PSAC crossover games at Morrow Field House 5 p.m. Jan. 2 against Bloomsburg and 3 p.m. Jan. 3 versus East Stroudsburg.





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