SLIPPERY ROCK— Down by 19 points with eight minutes remaining, Edinboro's victory hopes were dead and gone.

"They were if you don't believe in yourself,"veteran Fighting Scots coach Greg Walcavich said.

Apparently, they do.

Edinboro (12-3, 2-0) limited Slippery Rock University to two field goals in the final eight minutes, outscored SRU 31-9 down the stretch and escaped Morrow Field House with an 85-82 men's college basketball victory Saturday.

The Scots sank five 3-pointers during their comeback and forced eight SRU turnovers in the last eight minutes. The Rock (10-5, 1-1) suffered only seven turnovers in the first half.

Was it a miraculous comeback or a major meltdown?

"Probably both," SRUcoach Kevin Reynolds said. "We let one get away. You have to be able to close out games like this. That's up to the head coach, so it's my fault."

The Rock turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions during one stretch and three straight possessions during another as Edinboro closed the gap on the scoreboard in a hurry. The Scots trailed 73-54 with eight minutes to play.

Trailing 84-82, SRUhad possession with 7.4 seconds to play. Kyle Camper tried driving the lane, then kicked the ball out to Erroll Robinson for a potential game-winning trey from the far corner.

Robinson's shot was blocked and Joe Jones iced the game for Edinboro with a free throw with 0.5 seconds left.

"We wanted to drive to the basket there because most teams don't want to foul in that situation,"Reynolds said. "But they had it sealed off."

Jones had 27 points and Gil Cummings had 24 for Edinboro. Mars graduate Steve Cress is a freshman for the Scots and averages four points and 12 minutes per game. He played only six minutes in the first half Saturday and none in the second half.

"He just turned 19 last week and he's playing against 23- and 24-year-olds,"Walcavich said. "This game was a little physically challenging for him. But Steve will have a long, successful career with us."

Camper had 23 points and nine assists for SRUwhile Denell Stephens added 22 points.

SRU(women) 82, Edinboro 64 — The Rock (6-9, 1-1) snapped a three-game losing streak by outscoring Edinboro (10-5, 1-1) 51-34 in the second half.Sasha Sales had 20 points and 12 rebounds to pace SRU while Nikki Presto narrowly missed a tripler-double, posting 17 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.Grove City High graduate Julie Molloy had 14 points, including four 3-pointers.Kelsey Conklin paced Edinboro with 22 points while Samantha Reimer added 13.The Rock shot 56 percent from the field, sinking 32 of 57 field goal attempts, and were 12-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Men's GameEDINBORO85Gil Cummings 7-17 8-12 24, Joe Jones 9-19 5-7 27, Kyree Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Vlad Kovalevsky 2-4 0-0 4, Justin Moore 2-5 1-3 5, Larry Bryant 3-9 4-6 13, Bobby Stauffer 1-1 0-0 3, Chris Bess 3-6 2-2 9, Steve Cress 0-0 0-1 0. Totals: 27-62 20-31 85

SLIPPERYROCK82Kyle Camper 8-11 7-9 23, Maurice Douglas 3-7 8-8 16, Michael Evans Jr. 6-10 0-0 14, Maron Brown 2-2 1-2 5, Denell Stephens 9-20 4-4 22, Gary Satterwhite 0-1 0-0 0, Jamar Scales 1-4 0-0 2, Erroll Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Jade Burka 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-56 20-23 82

Halftime score: SRU 43-33

3-point goals: Cummings 2, Jones 4, Bryant 3, Stauffer, Bess; Douglas 2, Evans Jr. 2

Wednesday: SRUat Gannon

Women's GameEDINBORO64Micki Cerchiaro 1-4 3-4 5, Casey Heller 2-4 0-0 4, Kelsey Conklin 8-18 6-8 22, Renee Brown 3-6 1-2 8, Samantha Reimer 5-11 1-4 13, Kelcie Hellmer 2-6 0-0 4, Kelly Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Martinko 4-7 0-0 8, Raven Metz 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 25-58 11-18 64

SLIPPERYROCK82Julie Molloy 5-10 0-0 14, Nikki Presto 6-9 5-6 17, Jess Schake 4-7 0-0 8, Chere' Marshall 3-7 3-4 9, Sasha Sales 8-12 4-4 20, Amanda Nero 3-6 0-0 8, Sandra Busser 0-0 0-0 0, Alissa Schake 3-5 0-0 6, Haley Gaidosh 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Palucuis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 32-57 12-14 82

Halftime score: SRU 31-30

3-point goals: Brown, Reimer 2; Molloy 4, Nero 2

Wednesday: SRUat Gannon