Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team scored the proverbial “moral victory” Sunday afternoon as it battled Big East Conference power Pittsburgh to the final horn before the Panthers recorded a 75-64 victory in exhibition action at the Petersen Events Center.

The taller hosts outrebounded SRU by a slim 47-41 margin and had virtually no answer for a long-range attack unleashed by the Green and White.

SRU nailed 15 of 46 (32.6%) shots from beyond the 3-point line, led by a 6-of-15 showing by senior guard Jabril Bailey and a 4-of-9 showing by senior guard Maurice Douglas.

If the statistics from Sunday's game counted, which they do not due to the exhibition nature of the game, The Rock's 3-point attempts total would have set a Petersen Events Center record. Notre Dame held the mark with 36 set on Jan. 4, 2006.

SRU's total for 3-pointers made was only two shy of the Pete record of 17 set Jan. 2, 2008, by Lafayette College.

Bailey, a transfer from NCAA Division I Campbell University, scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in Sunday's game, while Douglas finished with 14 points and a team-best six assists.

Senior forward Jade Burka added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Junior forward Maron Brown had nine points and five rebounds and junior guard Andre Tarver had five assists.

Dante Taylor had game-high totals of 27 points and nine rebounds to lead Pitt's attack. Nasir Robinson added 11 points and Gary McGhee had nine points and three blocked shots.

The Panthers, who shot 46.4% (26 of 56) from the field and made 21 of 31 (67.7%) free throws, finished the game with six blocks.

The Rock hit five of its nine free throw opportunities. Each team had 15 turnovers.

It's fair to say The Rock effort surprised virtually everyone, with the exception of second-year head coach Kevin Reynolds and his players.

SRU not only hung with but led the Panthers throughout the opening 16 minutes of action.

Bailey set the tone when he buried a trey for The Rock's first points of the game and a 3-2 lead. Douglas followed that with a three of his own to give the Green and White a 6-2 lead.

Pitt scored five unanswered points to regain the lead at 7-6 before Bailey buried another trey to put The Rock back on top, 9-7.

The score was tied at 9-9 and 11-11 before The Rock got a three-pointer each from Bailey, Douglas and senior guard Mike Evans Jr. for a 9-2 run and a 20-13 lead with 9:45 left in the first half.

Bailey's fourth trey of the game gave SRU its largest lead of the game, an eight-point, 23-15 lead with nine minutes left before intermission.

Pitt then outscored The Rock by a 25-8 margin in the final nine minutes, capped by a 13-2 spurt in the final four minutes, to take a 40-31 lead into halftime.

The Rock shot 28.2% (11 of 39) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, keyed by an 8-for-24 showing from beyond the arc.

Pitt, on the other hand, hit 51.7% (15 of 29) shots in the first half and was 1-of-6 from 3-point range.

The Rock made one of its two free throw opportunities in the first half, while the Panthers were nine of 11.

SRU trailed by 18 points, 61-43, at the midway mark of the final half but clawed its way back and trimmed the margin to nine (68-59) with 3:45 left to play and to seven (71-64) with 1:30 remaining.

The Rock will look to build upon the emotional lift it got from Sunday's performance as they turn their attention to Friday's exhibition game at Penn State.

SRU and the Nittany Lions, the reigning National Invitation Tournament champions, will tip off at 6 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park.

That will be the final tuneup for The Rock's Nov. 15 official season opener, a 3 p.m. home game against Ohio University Eastern in Morrow Field House.