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WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team saw its season come to an end Saturday night with a 117-73 loss to No. 1 West Liberty in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament.

The Rock closes its season with a 21-11 record, while the Hilltoppers advance to the second round with an unblemished 30-0 mark.

“We can't judge our season by one game,” said head coach Kevin Reynolds following the game. “This team overcame an incredible amount of adversity this season and I'm beyond proud of what this group has accomplished.”

Slippery Rock quieted the Academic, Sports and Recreation Center early in the game by taking a 14-11 lead after seven minutes of play. From there, the hosts' full court press forced seven SRU turnovers that were converted to a 17-0 run that broke the game open and put it out of reach.

“We had a lead early and then we got caught up in their game,” said Reynolds. “You can't turn the ball over against a team like this and they caught us in a four or five minute stretch that we could never recover from.”

Jabril Bailey led three players in double figures for SRU with 12 points and nine rebounds. Aubin Reeves and Joe Vines each added 10 points.

West Liberty placed six players in double figures, led by Tim Hausfeld's 20 points. John Wolosinczuk added 19, while regional Player of the Year Corey Pelle chipped in 13. Chris Morrow scored 12 points off the bench, while Barry Shetzer added 11 and Alex Falk chipped in 10.

The hosts, which entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 112.6 points per game, took 76 field goal attempts in the game, connecting on 37 of them for a 48.7 percent efficiency. The Hiilltoppers, which also lead the nation in made 3-point field goals, were 14-of-32 from behind the 3-point arc and 29-of-47 at the free throw line.

Slippery Rock shot 42.4 percent from the field, connecting on 28-of-66 attempts, including just 1-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc. The Rock was 16-of-32 at the charity stripe.

West Liberty finished the game with a 52-45 advantage in total rebounds, which included 19 offensive rebounds. The hosts forced 19 turnovers, 14 of which came in the first half, and turned the ball over just eight times.

Things looked bad from the start for SRU after the hosts opened up a 7-2 lead early, but The Rock responded with their own 7-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with 15:46 to play in the half. The lead changed hands twice in the next two possessions before Slippery Rock pushed the lead out to 14-11 with 13:01 to play.

From there, West Liberty increased its full court press and began converting fast break layups, retaking control of the lead 29-22 with 7:33 to play.

Coming out of the third media timeout of the half, West Liberty forced four consecutive SRU turnovers and scored off each one. After three missed field goal attempts and three more turnovers from The Rock, the hosts put the finishing touches on a 17-0 run that took the lead out to 46-22 with 4:28 to play.

That three minute stretch put the game out of reach as Slippery Rock was never able to recover. West Liberty closed the final 7:33 of the half with a 31-10 run to take a 60-32 lead into the halftime break.

Slippery Rock could not close the gap to less than 27 points in the second half and the hosts pushed the lead out to a game-high 45 point advantage down the stretch.

Saturday's win was the 47th consecutive home win for the Hilltoppers, whose seniors have lost just one career home game in four years.

Saturday's game marked the end of the SRU careers for seven seniors, headlined by Maron Brown, who leaves Slippery Rock as the third-leading rebounder and seventh-leading scorer of all-time. Joining Brown in playing their final game Saturday was Bailey, Jade Burka, Rashiid Coleman, Torrance Timothy, #R.J. Rush# and Joe Vines.

“Slippery Rock University will never replace this group of guys,” said Reynolds. “I'm incredibly proud of the way they have developed and where they have taken this program. I will miss working with each one of our seven seniors. They carried this program to where it is today.”


Notes: This marked the first trip to the NCAA tournament for Slippery Rock since 1991 … The Rock is now 2-5 all-time in four trips to the national tournament … Maron Brown graduates with 1,312 career points and 862 rebounds in three seasons … The Rock and head coach Kevin Reynolds have won 57 games in the last three seasons, up from 14 total wins in the three previous seasons … West Liberty will face the winner of the Shaw-Winston Salem game in the second round of the tournament … Indiana (Pa.) was the lone Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference team to get out of the first round as both SRU and Mansfield were defeated Saturday