SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (February 3, 2016) - Trailing Slippery Rock by seven at 71-64 with less than four minutes to go, the Edinboro University men's basketball team attempted a late rally, coming to within one point of SRU's lead. That would be as close as they would get, however, as they fell to The Rock, 79-74, at Morrow Field House Wednesday night. The Fighting Scots dropped their second consecutive game to stand at 14-8 overall and 11-6 in the PSAC West while The Rock improved to 12-10 and 7-9, respectively.

The Fighting Scots split the season series with The Rock after defeating them in their season opener, 80-74. The loss also marked Edinboro's eighth straight defeat to Slippery Rock at Morrow Field House. Redshirt sophomore guard Jaymon Mason scored a game-high 27 points for his tenth 20-point game of the season, connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Boro trailed SRU in rebounds, 42-26, including being outrebounded, 26-8, heading into halftime. The game also featured a total of 55 personal foul calls and 76 free throw attempts. Edinboro, who had 31 fouls for the contest, shot 76.9 percent (30-for-39) from the charity stripe while Slippery Rock shot 64.9 percent (24-for-37).

The first half featured a close-scoring contest, with neither side leading by more than one possession until 3:45 remaining in the half. With the game tied at 29 with 5:53 to go in the opening half, Slippery Rock reeled off eight consecutive points on their way to a 13-4 run to close out the first half leading, 42-33. Edinboro was called on 17 personal fouls in the first half, with redshirt junior forward Art Cook registering four, causing him to play just 13 minutes in the first half and 15 minutes overall before fouling out in the second half.

The Rock would maintain their lead in the second half, going up by as much as 11 points to start the period thanks to a layup by Chaquille Pratt with 19:45 remaining. Edinboro was only able to narrow Slippery Rock's lead down to as much as five points during the first 16 minutes of the second half. A Malcolm Richardson layup gave The Rock a seven-point lead at 71-64 with 3:55 remaining. The Scots responded by scoring six straight points, all scored by senior center Tommy Scales, who would score all 10 of his points in the closing session, to draw to within one point of SRU with 1:41 to go in the contest at 71-70.

After a Slippery Rock timeout, Abdul King extended The Rock's lead to four with 1:19 left on an and-one layup after being fouled by junior guard Je'Land Head. Both teams would exchange buckets over the next 51 seconds, with Mason and senior guard Henri Wade-Chatman each registering a basket to keep Edinboro within two of Slippery Rock at 76-74 with 34 ticks remaining. The latter would be Edinboro's last points of the game, however, as a foul by Mikael Anderson allowed Jamal Gatali to hit a pair of free throws to put The Rock back up by four at 78-74 with 28 seconds to go. After an in-and-out 3-point attempt by Mason on Edinboro's ensuing possession, Pratt would grab the last of SRU's 42 boards to all but seal the win. Abdul King would make a free throw with nine seconds to go to close out the scoring.

Edinboro shot 38.9 percent on the night (21-for-54) while Slippery Rock shot 50.9 percent (27-for-53), including 57.1 percent in the second half (12-for-21). The Scots were 2-for-11 on 3-pointers, with Wade-Chatman and Mason shooting a combined 2-for-6 from long range. Both 3-pointers were made in the first half as the Scots shot 0-for-2 from behind the arc in the second half. The Fighting Scots scored 14 points off of 15 The Rock turnovers while SRU cashed in on eight points off of eight Scots turnovers. The Fighting Scots were outscored in the paint, 50-36.

Wade-Chatman finished second in scoring for Edinboro with 18 points, going 4-for-14 from the field and 9-for-12 from the free throw line. Scales added 10 markers, all of which came in the second half. Sophomore forward Quinn Lee Yaw pulled down a team-high six rebounds while adding eight points off the bench

Cornelius Brown finished with 26 points and seven rebounds for The Rock while Erik Raleigh had 14 markers and six boards off the bench. Chaquille King grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and scored nine points while Abdul King finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

The Fighting Scots return to action on Saturday at PSAC West-leading Indiana (Pa.) for the second of a three-game road trip. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.