ERIE — The Mercyhurst University Athletic Center continues to be a house of horrors for the Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team.

The Rock (18-6, 12-6) dropped an 83-76 decision at Mercyhurst Wednesday night, its seventh loss in its last nine games there.

SRU had a 39-34 lead at halftime, only to be outscored 49-37 in the second half by the Lakers (11-10, 8-9).

Micah Till paced SRU with 25 points and 13 rebounds, his 17th double-double of the season. Bruce Spruell had 16 points and four assists, Khyree Wooten 11 points.

Malcolm Walters led the Lakers with 18 points and six rebounds. Lorenzo Collier added 16 points.

SRU (women) 68, Mercyhurst 66 — The Rock (11-12, 9-9) took a major step toward a PSAC Tournament berth by holding on for this win in Erie.

With four league games remaining, SRU has a 1.5 game lead on Mercyhurst and 2.5 game edge on Pitt-Johnstown for the PSAC West’s final tourney berth. The Rock also owns the tiebreaker over Mercyhurst because of two wins against the Lakers. Brooke Hinderliter paced SRU with 18 points and eight rebounds. Karns City graduate LeeAnn Gibson had 10 points and five rebounds, Morgan Henderson nine points and six rebounds.

Mercyhurst slipped to 9-14 overall, 7-10 in league play.

SRU’s teams return home Saturday afternoon to host Clarion. The women’s game is at 1 p.m., the men’s game at 3 p.m.