Billy Arre scored a game high 19 points as LHU fell on the road to Slippery Rock 53-43.

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Lock Haven University’s men’s basketball squad (1-20, 1-6 PSAC West) couldn’t overcome a poor shooting performance as they fell on the road at Slippery Rock University (5-16, 3-4 PSAC West) 53-43 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West division action at Morrow Fieldhouse on the campus of Slippery Rock.

LHU shot an ice cold 28.8% on the afternoon as they dropped the second half of the season’s home and home series with The Rock.

Slippery Rock held The Haven scoreless for the games first five and half minutes as they put the Bald Eagles at an early 8-0 deficit.

Guard David Blackwell (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) would snap the scoreless drought for Lock Haven as he would knock down a triple with 14:25 to play in the opening frame to cut the SRU lead to five.

Both teams would struggle from the field until Lock Haven would take its first lead of the afternoon halfway through the opening frame as Billy Arre (Pittsburgh/Thomas Jefferson) would knock down a trey to give The Haven a 10-9 advantage.

Lock Haven’s lead wouldn’t last long as Slippery Rock would cap off a quick 5-0 spurt with a Matt Schaeffer free throw with 5:47 to play in the opening stanza to take a 14-10 lead.

With 3:09 to go in the first half a Kelvin McLean (Newport News, Va./Heritage) three would give LHU the advantage for the second time on the afternoon as they held an 18-17 lead.

LHU would continue to show the way for the remainder of the half as McLean would polish off the first half with a layup as time expired to give the Bald Eagles a 26-21 advantage as the teams headed to the locker room.

Lock Haven would come out of the locker room and build their advantage to seven points as Arre hit a jumper with 19:12 to play, but Slippery Rock would come roaring back.

An 11-3 run across the games next six minutes allowed The Rock to take a 32-31 lead as a Jamar Scales jumper found the bottom of the net with 13 and change to play.

Slippery Rock’s lead wouldn’t last long as a minute later Arre would knock down two more of his game high 19 points to give LHU the lead back for the third time on the day.

LHU would stay in front until 9:27 to go when Slippery Rock’s Schaeffer would put in a layup to knot the game up at 37 a piece.

Over the course of the next three plus minutes SRU would go on a 9-1 run to build their lead to eight points with under six minutes to play.

Slippery Rock would keep the Bald Eagles at bay for the rest of the contest as LHU would shoot a dismal 22% down the stretch as they would drop their sixth straight west division contest, this time to The Rock by a 53-43 score.

Arre’s 19 led the way for Lock Haven.

McLean and Denny Mortimer (Silver Spring, Md./Mansfield University) were the team co-rebound leaders as they each pulled down five a piece as Lock Haven was out-rebounded 34-21 on the afternoon.

LHU will look for win number two as they host Shippensburg University on Wednesday, February 13 for a pre-Valentines Day affair in Thomas Fieldhouse. Lock Haven’s lone win on the season came on the road against Shippensburg on January 16. Tip off from Thomas Fieldhouse is slated for 8 p.m.

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