SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team maintained its perfect record at Morrow Field House with a 78-66 non-conference victory Thursday over Lincoln University.

The Atlantic Region win improves SRU's record to 6-1 on the season overall, marking the 22nd time in the 115-year history of Slippery Rock men's basketball that SRU has won at least six of its first seven games.

Slippery Rock has now won all five of its games inside Morrow Field House in 2025-26. Of its six overall wins, five have been double-digit victories. SRU led for nearly 36 minutes Thursday and has now held the advantage for 73:60 of a possible 80 minutes in the last two games.

As has been the case all season, SRU once again benefitted from an all-around group effort. Four athletes scored at least 13 points led by Ike Herster's game-high 18. Herster was 5-for-10 from the field, 2-for-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-8 at the foul line.

Elijah Hill posted his second consecutive double-double, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. Hill went 6-for-8 from the field with two 3-pointers.

Fellow starters Isaac James and Dame Givner added 13 points each. James also passed out four assists, blocked one shot and came up with one steal in addition to going 6-for-9 from the field, while Givner provided SRU with a game-high six assists as well as five rebounds and two steals.

Off the bench, Kerwin Prince chipped in six points, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Sheick Samoura tallied three blocks to move him into a tie for the most rejections in the PSAC this year. Rounding out the top contributors was RJ Sledge with four assists.

Collectively, SRU set team season-highs in both assists (23) and blocks (6). The Rock ended the win shooting 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field overall, 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from 3-point range and 68 percent (17-of-25) at the foul line. Slippery Rock also committed just 13 turnovers.

Defensively, SRU limited the Lions to a 38.5 percent (25-of-65) shooting performance that included a 4-for-7 (.235) showing from distance. The Rock turned Lincoln's 14 miscues into 17 points off turnovers, marking the fourth time this year SRU has totaled at least 15 points in the category.

Lincoln (1-4) opened a 7-2 advantage over The Rock through the game's opening two minutes, only for Slippery Rock to respond with a 15-3 run through the following four minutes to take a 17-10 lead it would never relinquish.

Slippery Rock methodically built its lead through the remainder of the opening half, reaching a double-digit advantage for the first time on a successful Brady Mayo free throw at the 7:53 mark in the period before eventually stretching its lead out to a game-high 17 points with 13 seconds showing on the clock on the way to a 45-31 edge heading into the break.

SRU closed the opening 20 minutes shooting 51.5 percent from the field with assists on 15 of its 17 made field goals.

Despite the sizable halftime deficit, Lincoln opened the second half as the aggressors in the form of a 13-4 run that cut Slippery Rock's lead down to just five points at 49-44 with 15:06 to play in regulation.

However, Slippery Rock withstood the early barrage by answering back with a mini 7-2 spurt of its own to push its lead back out to 10 points at the 11:37 mark of the second half. Givner accounted for five points in the run.

While the Lions continued to push The Rock through the final stages of the contest, Lincoln was unable to slice SRU's advantage to under six points over the remainder of the game as SRU pulled away for the 12-point triumph.

Kesean Shillingford had 17 points to lead Lincoln. Draven Pilson and Julius Olanrewaju added 15 points apiece as well.

With the bulk of its non-conference schedule completed, Slippery Rock now turns its attention to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition starting with a 3 p.m. Saturday crossover game at Mansfield.



 
To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).