SRU defeats Seton Hill by five

The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team defeated Seton Hill University 77-72 in non-conference action last Saturday at Morrow Field House.

The Rock (3-1) was led by the trio made up of senior forward Devin Taylor, junior guard John Bayardelle, and junior guard Aubin Reeves.

Taylor recorded his second double-double of the season, tallying 22 points and 11 rebounds against the Griffons.

Bayardelle added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Reeves contributed 13 points and four assists.

The Green and White ended the game with a 28 of 62 (45 percent) shooting effort, 6 of 15 (40 percent) of 3-pointers, and 15 of 18 (83 percent) free throws.

The game was tied on eight different occasions, including a 72-72 deadlock with 1:40 left in the game. The Rock drained five of six free throws, and Seton Hill went zero for two from the foul line during the last stretch to secure the victory.

SRU never trailed during the game except an early first half 5-4 Seton Hill lead.

Taylor scored a layup that gave the Rock a 6-5 edge over the Griffons and sparked a 12-4 run that put the Rock up 16-9 halfway through the first half. Seton Hill fought back and tied the score 29-29 with 6:17 left in the first half. The Rock went on a 10-4 run and headed into the half up by a score of 43-37.  

To start the second half, SRU scored the first five points in the first 30 seconds to take the largest lead of the game, 48-37. With 16 minutes left, Seton Hill scored six unanswered points to close the gap to 52-49.

SRU extended the lead back to eight points on three occasions in the next six minutes of the game. With 2:23 left in the game, Seton Hill tied the score 70-70. Reeves scored on a layup to put the Rock up 72-70, but Seton Hill answered with another basket to tie the score at 72-72.

Free throws proved to be the game winner for the Rock, when Taylor hit one of two with 0:41 left on the clock. Senior guard Jon Valeriano and Taylor each made both their free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds to lock up the win for the Rock.

The Rock has had a full week off to recover as they prepare to host East Stroudsburg University (3-3 overall, 1-1 PSAC) tomorrow.

This weekend serves as the first crucial back-to-back PSAC games for the team. On Sunday, the Rock will host Kutztown University (2-2 overall, 1-1 PSAC). Both games will tip off at 3 p.m. at Morrow Field House.

Head coach Kevin Reynolds says his team has been preparing all week in practice for this weekend's games against East Stroudsburg and Kutztown.  

"This coming weekend will probably be the toughest weekend of the season," Reynolds said. "East Stroudsburg and Kutztown are two of the best teams we'll have to play this season, and both games are imperative to help improve our league record."

Reynolds said the game plan for this weekend is to take it one game at a time.

"Our primary focus for this weekend is to focus on the East Stroudsburg game first, and then worry about the Kutztown game when it comes," Reynolds said.

Bayardelle is pleased with how the season is going so far.

"I think we're making great strides towards where we want to be as a team," Bayardelle said. "We have a lot of enthusiastic players that want to get better as the season goes on."

On Monday, Taylor was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division Player of the Week for his double-double in the Seton Hill game on Saturday.

Taylor leads the Rock in scoring with 14.5 points per game and rebounding with 11 per game so far this season.