SLIPPERY ROCK — Virginia Union was pounding on the door.

Slippery Rock slammed it shut twice — then ran off with a 40-21 victory Saturday in a first-round NCAA Division II college football game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

SRU will host Assumption (11-1) in the second round at noon this Saturday. Assumption defeated Bowie State, 51-29, Saturday.

The Rock win marked its 16th consecutive home triumph — tying Minnesota Duluth for the longest such D-II streak in the country — and was the program's first postseason victory since 1998.

But it didn't come easily.

“When we went up 33-7 there, it would have been easy for them to fold up the tent,” SRU coach George Mihalik said. “But they didn't quit.”

Not at all.

SRU (11-1) took a 26-7 lead into halftime and quickly extended the margin on the first possession of the third quarter. Dante Nania's third touchdown pass of the day — a 1-yarder to tight end Brett Crenshaw — capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive and upped the margin to 33-7.

Virginia Union (8-3) answered with a pair of touchdown drives. Shawheem Dowdy, who threw for 375 yards, capped 72 and 50-yard drives with 1-yard touchdown runs and it was 33-21.

As The Rock failed to finish drives of its own — turning the ball over on downs twice inside the VU 40 and punting after reaching the Panthers' 20 before being pushed backwards — Virginia Union mounted two more scoring threats.

Nania took responsibility for the stalled possessions.

“That was all on me. I had open receivers and didn't hit them. I need to play better than that,” he said.

“We know it's a 60-minute game and we had to keep the pedal on the gas,” SRU linebacker Teven Williams said. “You play hard until the clock says :00.”

A 14-yard pass to Chazto McKenzie handed the Panthers a second down at the Rock 1-yard line. Lamar Webster was nailed for a yard loss on successive plays at that point, with Marcus Martin, Williams, Avery Anderson and Bob Vernick all involved in the stops.

On fourth down, Joe Phillips sacked Dowdy for a 13-yard loss, Cody Conway coming up with a fumble recovery with 13:21 to play.

“If there was a turning point, that was probably it,” Virginia Union coach Marcus James said. “If we score there, it's 33-28 and no one knows what might have happened.”

The Panthers came calling on The Rock end zone one more time. But on second and 18 from the SRU 27, Dowdy fumbled while looking to pass and Martin recovered with 4:13 left.

“The ball just slipped out of my hand,” Dowdy said. “No excuses. I just dropped it.”

“Pursue the ball and be the first one to it,” Martin said. “When a team gets that close to our goal line, that's when we say to each other, bend but don't break.

“They can get yards. We can't let them get points.”

Moments after the fumble recovery, Shamar Greene broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown run to wrap up the win.

Greene ran for 154 yards on ther day. Virginia Union's 1,000-yard running back, Hakeem Holland, was held to 28 yards.

“Nobody's shut down Hakeem like that all year,” James said. “Hats off to Slippery Rock's defense. Overall, they executed better than we did. They didn't make the mistakes.”

Virginia Union had the edge on SRU in total yardage, but committed 18 penalties for 163 yards — including 13 flags in the first half — and committed six turnovers.

SRU did not turn the ball over all day.

“The turnover differential was huge in this game,” Mihalik said. “Our defense played an outstanding gane against a very talented opponent.

“If you get to the Division II playoffs, you're an excellent team.”

Virginia Union has 20 transfers on its roster from Division I schools.

Mihalik acknowledged how difficult it was for his team to get ready for Saturday's game in lieu of teammates Julian Durden and Calvert Anderson being arrested and dismissed from the team Thursday.

“We addressed the team about all of that Friday,” Mihalik said. “This was a tough challenge, getting re-focused on this game. But we talked about winning this playoff game for each other and for Slippery Rock University football.

“I am very proud of this group of guys.”

Notes: The win was the 196th of Mihalik's career and was SRU's first home playoff game since 1999. ... Nania has 27 touchdown passes on the year, three shy of The Rock's single-season record. ... SRU has scored 79 touchdowns this season, snapping the school record of 73 set in 2013. ... SRU's Cornelius Raye had 151 yards receiving, a career-high. ... Greene has 3,525 career rushing yards and needs two yards to move into third on SRU's all-time list. ... Martin had 12 tackles and two sacks. giving him 12 sacks on the year. Williams had 10 tackles. ... Conway had two fumble recoveries, Williams, Derek Morgan and Johnny Davis interceptions for The Rock. Williams returned his pick 24 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

SRU 40, Va. Union 21

Virginia Union 0 7 14 0 — 21

Slippery Rock 13 13 7 7 — 40

VU SRU

24 First Downs 21

37-60 Rushes-Yards 48-173

410 Passing Yards 249

30-53-3 Comp.-Att.-Int 17-32-0

470 Total Yards 422

4-3 Fumbles-Lost 4-0

18-163 Penalty Yards 8-66

First Quarter

SRU — Shamar Greene 2 run (Andrew Huska kick), 4:36

SRU — Teven Williams 24 interception return (pass failed), 2:03

Second Quarter

VU — Devin Anderson 5 pass from Shawheem Dowdy (Beymar Piraquive kick), 12:31

SRU — Leroy McClain 18 pass from Dante Nania (kick blocked), 9:08

SRU — Marcus Carter 8 pass from Nania (Huska kick), 4:47

Third Quarter

SRU — Brett Crenshaw 1 pass from Nania (Huska kick), 11:39

VU — Dowdy 1 run (Piraquive kick), 10:27

VU — Dowdy 1 run (Piraquive kick), 5:50

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Greene 59 run (Huska kick), 3:21

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Virginia Union, Hakeem Holland 11-28, Andre Coble 4-17, Jerome Robinson 1-8, Lamar Webster 6-8, Olu Izegwire 1-0, Shawheem Dowdy 14-(-1). SRU, Shamar Greene 21-154, Isiah Neely 15-43, TEAM 2-(-3), Dante Nania 10-(-21).

Passing: Virginia Union, Shawheem Dowdy 29-52-375-3, Andre Coble 1-1-35-0. SRU, Dante Nania 17-32-249-0.

Receiving: Virginia Union, Devin Anderson 10-174, Chazto McKenzie 7-71, Olu Izegwire 5-93, Shaquille Mitchem 4-18, Andre Coble 2-43, Jamaal Wright 2-11. SRU, Cornelius Raye 6-151, Leroy McClain 3-49, Marcus Carter 3-17, Taishan Tucker 2-28, Jaimire Dutrieuille 2-3, Brett Crenshaw 1-1.