SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team cut a 19-point deficit down to just two points with 20 seconds left in regulation, but couldn't quite complete the impressive comeback bid in a 67-59 loss to Seton Hill on Senior Day Saturday at Morrow Field House.
 
Saturday's loss dropped Slippery Rock's record to 15-11 overall and 8-10 inside the PSAC. Seton Hill left SRU at 14-12 overall and 8-10 in league games. With two games remaining in the regular season The Rock and Griffins sit in a tie for fifth place in the PSAC West standings.
 
The top six teams in the Western Division standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the PSAC Tournament. While SRU and SHU are technically tied for fifth place, Seton Hill holds the tiebreaker over Slippery Rock due to its regular season sweep of The Rock.
 
Slippery Rock does have a one-game advantage in the conference standings over seventh-place Clarion (7-11). SRU also holds the tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles thanks to a regular season sweep of Clarion.
 
Kerwin Prince led The Rock's efforts Saturday via a 13-point, 17-rebound, two-assist, one-steal performance. Prince was an absolute force on the glass with eight offensive boards and nine defensive rebounds. Prince's 17 rebounds were the most by a Rock athlete since Tyler Frederick had 18 at Mansfield in 2021 (137 games ago). The double-double was his sixth of the season.  
 
Maceo Austin made his return to The Rock's lineup Saturday, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Austin is now tied with Lashon Lindsey (2019-24) and Glenn Reepmeyer (2002-07) for 15th place in program history for steals in a career.
 
Braylon Littlejohn and Brady Mayo joined Austin and Prince in double figures at 10 points apiece, with Littlejohn also adding six rebounds, four steals and two assists. Mayo, who had one block and a steal defensively, is now tied with Jomo Goings (2022-23 R.Fr) for ninth place on The Rock's single-season freshmen scoring ledger.
 
Like Austin, talented redshirt freshman Elijah Hill also returned to SRU's rotation Saturday with a seven-point, five-rebound, one-block showing off the bench.
 
Rounding out SRU's top performers was Isaac James (5 points, 5 rebounds) and RJ Sledge (3 steals). Sledge is now up to 37 steals, the seventh most by a freshman in program history.
 
Following a disastrous opening 20 minutes in which anything that could go wrong seemingly did, Slippery Rock found itself trailing the Griffins 34-18 entering the second half only for Seton Hill to push its lead out even further to 19 points at 40-21 with 18 minutes left in regulation.
 
To its credit, Slippery Rock showed commendable fight and methodically chipped away at the sizable deficit through the next 17 minutes to play its way back into the game with an Austin layup eventually capping a 38-21 Rock spurt that cut Seton Hill's lead down to just two points (61-59) with 20 second to play.
 
Austin (9), Mayo (8) and Littlejohn (8) combined for 25 of SRU's points during the comeback run. Prince pulled down nine of his 17 rebounds over the stretch as well.
 
However, the dramatic comeback was not to be as Seton Hill made four consecutive free throws and a final layup while holding The Rock scoreless on their final two possessions in the game's waning moments to escape with the narrow road win.
 
Slippery Rock ended the contest shooting 32.8 percent (22-of-67) from the field overall, 0-for-17 from 3-point range and 15-of-24 (.625) at the foul line. The Rock held a +3 turnover margin (13-16) over the Griffins while finishing even with SHU in rebounds (47-47).
 
Seton Hill countered by shooting 36.5 percent (22-for-63) from the field overall, 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from 3-point range and 77.8 percent (14-of-18) at the foul line. Kedrick Curtis just missed out on a triple-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
 
SRU's 2025-26 senior class of James, Austin, Mack Staunch, Ike Herster and team manager Malia Larson were recognized for their contributions to the program over their careers in a pregame ceremony.
 
Slippery Rock returns to Morrow Field House for a final time in the regular season 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 when it hosts Edinboro in a crucial Western Division contest. SRU needs to defeat Edinboro to earn a season series split with the fourth-place Fighting Scots, which could be critical in potential tiebreaker scenarios for deciding seeding and PSAC Tournament bids.
 
The Feb. 25 date will also serve as The Rock's Black History Month Game and Employee Appreciation Game.




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