GREENSBURG, PA. - Seton Hill built an early lead in the second half, but a 23-2 run over almost eight minutes gave Slippery Rock all of the momentum as the Griffins fell to The Rock, 79-64, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon inside the Katherine Mabis McKenna Center.
Seton Hill is now 4-7 overall and 1-5 in PSAC play. Slippery Rock improves to 6-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference.
Leading 36-33 after the first frame, the Griffins came out firing in the second half.
Trevor Lecuona gave Seton Hill a five-point lead (38-33) with a jumper right out of the gate. Following a bucket by Slippery Rock,
Spencer Casson made one-of-two free-throws and
Trevor Blondin's layup on the ensuing possession gave Seton Hill a 42-35 lead with 17:00 showing on the clock. A layup by
Nathan Davis and two free-throws by Blondin gave Seton Hill their largest lead of the game, 46-39, with 15:18 on the clock. However, the Rock would use a furious offensive attack and stifling defense over the next eight minutes to turn a nine-point deficit into a 60-48 lead. Slippery Rock would go on to win, 79-64.
Trevor Blondin led Seton Hill with game-high 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Nathan Davis had 15 points and
Tyler Bowling netted 10.
Spencer Casson a game-high 12 rebounds and added six blocked shots.
Slippery Rock's Micah Till came away with 22 points to tie Blondin for the game-high in scoring. Brandon Simmons had 16, Merdic Green had 14, and Tony Gates scored 12 to round out the double-digit scorers.
For the game, the Griffins made 25-of-59 (42.4%) shots from the floor, including 4-of-14 (28.6%) from three, and 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the free-throw line. Seton Hill scored 36 points in the paint, 10 fast break point, and nine second chance points. The Griffins bench contributed 18 points. Slippery Rock made 33-of-83 (39.8%) shots from the floor, including 3-of-14 (21.4%) from long range, and 10-of-20 (50%) from the line. The Rock scored 46 points in the paint, 20 second chance points, 14 fast break points, and the bench chipped in 22 points.
Seton Hill returns to action on January 3rd when they travel to Edinboro University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
