EDINBORO, Pa. (Nov. 18, 2015) – The Edinboro University men's basketball team opened the 2015-16 season on Wednesday night with a hard-fought 80-74 win over Slippery Rock at McComb Fieldhouse. The contest was the PSAC West opener for both teams, as well. Slippery Rock dropped to 1-2 overall as Edinboro snapped a six-game losing streak to The Rock.
 

The Fighting Scots trailed 35-30 at the half as they shot just 30.0 percent from the floor while SRU hit at a 50.0 percent clip. The Rock would still hold a 40-35 lead early in the second half when Edinboro went on a 13-2 run to take a 48-42 lead with 11:53 to play.
 
Edinboro would push the lead to 13 points at 59-46 with 8:34 to play thanks to a bench that outscored SRU, 25-3. Je'Land Head scored on a layup, with daryann Robinson depositing a pair of free throws. Mikael Anderson followed with two more free throws before Head's jumper made it 59-46.
 
The final five minutes featuring a plethora of free throws, as a determined Slippery Rock kept sending Edinboro to the line, while the Fighting Scots could not keep the Rock from visiting the charity stripe. For the game, Edinboro was 26-of-39 at the line, with all but three of those attempts coming in the second half.  Slippery Rock was 16-for-27 at the line, making 13-of-21 in the second half.
 
Edinboro still held a ten-point lead at 76-66 with 47 seconds to play when Slippery Rock made one final run. While SRU would score on Cornelius Brown's layup and make 3-of-5 free throws over the next 18 seconds, Edinboro went one-for-two at the line as The Rock pulled to 76-71 with 29 ticks remaining.
 

Tommy Scales would miss a pair of free throws, but following an SRU turnover, Jayman Mason drained two free throws and forced another turnover which led to a Henri Wade-Chatman free throw as the Scots held off the Rock.
 
Edinboro would end the night shooting 37.5 percent from the floor (24-of-64), while SRU was at 49.1 percent (27-of-55). Edinboro was able to hold its own on the boards against a taller Slippery Rock team, with SRU holding a 42-41 edge on the glass. Most impressive, Edinboro committed just four turnovers compared to 14 for The Rock.
 
Wade-Chatman led three players in double figures as the senior guard dropped in 17 points while pulling down a team-high 9 rebounds. He was 9-for-11 at the line. Scales had an impressive night, as the 6'8" senior had 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting, adding 9 rebounds. He would go just 1-for-7 at the line.  Mason contributed 14 points.
 
Head and Anderson led the bench brigade, as the junior college transfers had eight points apiece in their Edinboro debuts.
 
Slippery Rock showcased four players in double digits, led by Brown with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Chaquille Pratt added 17 points and 8 rebounds, with the duo combining to go 14-for-23 from the line. Malcolm Richardson had 13 points and Dontay Jackson finished with 12.
 

The Fighting Scots will have little time to enjoy their first meeting against Slippery Rock in the last seven meetings. Edinboro has a pair of PSAC crossover games this weekend, hosting Kutztown on Saturday, November 21 and Mansfield on Sunday, November 22.