Slippery Rock, Pa. – The Edinboro men's basketball team dropped a 73-63 decision to host Slippery Rock Wednesday night in PSAC West action.
 
The Rock scored the first four points of the game before Evan Berger hit a 3-pointer and Amaan Sandhu split a pair of free throws to knot the score 4-4 at the 17:09 mark. Brady Mayo gave Slippery Rock the lead back with a triple on the next possession. Sandhu drilled a triple and Rowan Carmichael made a layup to give the Scots their first lead of the game 9-7 with 15:28 on the clock.
 
Slippery Rock retook the lead on a Kerwin Prince and-one with 11:58 remaining in the opening half. Berger hit a jumper to put the Scots up 15-14, but the Rock scored the next eight points to build a 22-15 lead after a Braylon Littlejohn layup at the 8:50 mark.
 
Bryce Baez hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 14-4 run that ended with a Carmichael trey at the 4:32 mark to put the Scots up 29-26. Mekhi Reynolds kept the lead at three, 31-28, with his layup with 4:03 left in the first. Littlejohn tied the game with 2:32 left and the teams went scoreless over the final 2:32 of the first half to enter the break tied 31-31.
 
In the second half, Mayo hit a 3-pointer and Isaac James a layup to give the Rock a 36-31 advantage. Berger hit a trey and Sandhu made a layup sandwiching a Mayo bucket to trim the lead to 38-36 with 16:55 to play. Prince pushed the edge to 40-36 before Baez hit a triple to pull the Scots within 40-39 at the 15:21 mark.
 
Slippery Rock responded with a 9-1 run capped by a Littlejohn layup at 10:09 to make it 49-40. The Scots chipped away at the lead scoring the next five points to cut the lead to 49-45 after a pair of Sandhu free throws with 9:33 on the clock. The Rock used a 13-7 spurt to open up a 62-52 advantage with 5:52 to go.
 
Edinboro would close the gap to eight, 69-61, after  a Carmichael 3-pointer at the 1:03 mark, but the Rock did enough at the free throw line to hold off the late Scot push.
 
Berger led the Edinboro offense with 16 points to go with seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Carmichael finished with 15 points and two steals. Baez added 12 points, eight boards and a helper.
 
Mayo led the Rock with 22 points while Littlejohn chipped in 16 points and six assists. Prince added 11 points and four rebounds.
 
Despite the loss the Scots clinched a spot in the PSAC postseason and are in a three-way tie for fourth with Slippery Rock and Seton Hill. Edinboro can still earn a home playoff game with a win over Seton Hill.
 
The Scots are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Seton Hill to take on the Griffins. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.