SLIPPERY ROCK — With five of its first six games being away from home this season, Slippery Rock University’s men’s basketball team did not want to drop its home opener.

Antonio Butler and Malcolm Richardson made certain that didn’t happen.

Butler, a senior guard and returning starter, made critical plays down the stretch and Richardson came off the bench to produce 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. All of those numbers were vital to The Rock’s 79-71 triumph over Pitt-Johnstown Saturday night at Morrow Field House.

“We’re still trying to sort things out in terms of our lineup,” SRU coach Kevin Reynolds said. “When someone is playing well, he’s staying in there.

“That’s why Malcolm got extended minutes tonight. He came up big for us.”

Neither team ever led by more than four points Saturday until SRU (3-1, 1-1) put together a 15-0 run to turn a 51-47 deficit into a 62-51 lead with 8:57 left in the game.

UPJ (2-1, 1-1) responded with a 14-4 run of its own to pull within 66-65 with 4:40 remaining. The Mountain Cats rebounded an errant Rock shot and were looking to take the lead.

Butler stepped in front of the clear-out pass, however, stole the ball and immediately canned a jumper to get the lead back to three.

“That was one of the biggest plays in this game,” UPJ coach Bob Rukavina said. “If we get the lead there, who knows where this thing goes?”

Butler wasn’t done. He stuck back an offensive rebound for a 73-69 lead with 1:18 to play, then sank two free throws for a 75-69 edge with 58 seconds left.

The Mountain Cats did not threaten again.

“Antonio is one of our leaders and he stepped up big when we needed it,” Reynolds said. “This was definitely a game we didn’t want to lose.”

Kelvin Goodwin paced The Rock with 21 points. Butler had 17 points, seven boards and four assists.

Senior center Ian Vescovi paced UPJ with 20 points and added seven rebounds. Sophomore forward A.J. Leahey had 18 points and nine boards.

The Mountain Cats played without their two starting guards, including point guard and Butler graduate Nate Snodgrass, who will be out at least another two weeks with a broken hand.

“I played a freshman (Dale Clancy) at guard for 40 minutes tonight,” Rukavina said. “He held his own. I think we have the best center in the league in Vescovi.”

The Rock had a 41-33 rebounding advantage, the 173rd time in 180 games under Reynolds that it out-boarded the opposition.

“We put (Erik) Raleigh on Vescovi in the second half and he held him to four points,” Reynolds said.”That was a big part of this win.”

The Rock plays Alderson-Broaddus at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Gannon.

Pitt-Johnstown 71, SRU (women) 65

Rock acting head coach Bobby McGraw couldn’t stop beating himself up after this game.

“I lost us the game. I blew this one,” the Mars resident said. “I took too long to take us out of the zone.”

UPJ (3-1, 2-0) sank 10 of 22 3-point shots while taking a 42-27 lead into halftime. Junior guard Kayla DeCriscio sank seven treys in the first half and scored 23 points.

DeCriscio did not score in the second half. The Mountain Cats sank just nine of 34 shots in the final 20 minutes, two of 10 from beyond the arc.

“Once we switched to our man defense, we got back into the game,” McGraw said. “Our players never quit. They never stopped working. That effort is always going to be there.”

SRU (1-2, 0-2) trailed 62-41 with 9:28 to play before a furious 20-2 run trimmed the margin to 65-61 with 1:51 left. But The Rock could get no closer.

Jasmine Harper, UPJ’s leading scorer at 28 points per game, scored just two in the frst half. She finished with 14. Nicole Carman came off the bench to deliver 12 points and five assists.

“Jasmine came through when we needed her,” UPJ coach Mike Drahos said. “Once they took our three’s away, we definitely struggled for a while.”

Erica Aiello paced SRU with 21 points — including three treys. D’Asia Chambers had 16 points and 13 rebounds — giving her 505 rebounds in her career — but hit only five of 19 shots from the floor.

“They made her work for everything she got,” McGraw said.

Chambers contributed seven assists as well.

“She’s a great, great player,” Drahos said. “She was the focus of our defense all night and she still produced numbers most girls would love to have.”

The Rock women play their next five games at home, including at 6 p.m. tonight against Penn State-Allegheny.