SLIPPERY ROCK — Someone had to step up and make a free throw.

Josh Martin obliged.

The Slippery Rock senior drained five of six free throws in the final 1:12 Saturday night to help SRU hold off Seton Hill, 68-65, in a first-round PSAC men’s basketball tournament game at Morrow Field House.

The Rock had nailed just 11 of 24 shots from the charity stripe before Martin stepped to the line. The game was a nail-biter throughout as SRU (20-9) never managed a double-digit lead.

“Sure, it’s frustrating, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” SRU coach Kevin Reynolds said. “We’re a 70 percent free throw shooting team.

“Sometimes, when we miss one or two free throws early, it affects the confidence of the rest of the team.”

Not in Martin’s case — even though he hadn’t scored a point before that final 1:12.

“I haven’t been that good at the line all year, only 65 percent, but I felt like each one of those shots was going in,” Martin said. “Even the one I missed, I was surprised it missed.

“At the end of the game, I wanted the ball in my hands and that was the plan.”

But the Griffins (15-12) never made it easy.

Despite being outrebounded 44-18 — 17-2 on the offensive glass — Seton Hill stuck around. The Griffins forced 18 turnovers while committing only eight themselves. The lead changed hands eight times and the score was tied on six occasions.

The visitors’ last lead was at 61-60 before Martin sank his first two free throws with 1:12 remaining. Antonio Butler drained a trey with 33 seconds left to widen the margin to 65-61.

Still, Seton Hill wouldn’t go away.

Kameron Taylor canned two free throws with 23.9 seconds on the clock. After Martin hit one of two, Taylor sank a jumper to trim the margin to 66-65 with 9.5 seconds left.

Martin hit two more free throws with 8.3 to play and The Rock intentionally fouled Taylor with 4.9 on the clock. Taylor missed both free throws, but the Griffins were awarded possession on a jump-ball call off the rebound of the second shot.

Max Kenyi missed an off-balanced 3-point shot at the buzzer and The Rock held on.

“I’m still in the heat of the moment here and I haven’t seen the video yet, but you want to see the two teams decide a tournament game — and I’d be saying that if we had won,” Seton Hill coach Tony Morocco said. “This game was decided by judgment ... You can underline that word.

“They had 30 free throws to our 19, in a game we were out-rebounded that badly? ... When collective calls determine the outcome, that’s tough to swallow.”

Morocco admitted his team has not been strong on the boards all season.

“We haven’t been good there and Slippery Rock is a very good rebounding team. That was a definite concern coming in,” he said.

Seton Hill lost to SRU for the third time this season — by a total margin of eight points.

“In my opinion, they are the most talented team in the league,” Reynolds said. “We’ve had games like this all year.”

The Rock fell behind 14-4 in the first nine minutes Saturday, hitting just two of its first 10 shots and suffering seven turnovers. Junior guard Matej Delinac came off the bench to spark a 12-0 run, turning a 16-9 deficit into a 21-16 lead.

Delinac completed a pair of three-point plays and sank a baseline jumper off the inbounds pass during the run. Averaging 5.2 points per game, he struck for 17 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes.

“Matej was outstanding. He kept us in the game early. He was our player of the game,” Reynolds said.

Maurice Lewis-Briggs was poked in the eye, left the game briefly after being stepped on while grabbing a rebound, but led The Rock with 20 points and 13 boards. He has scored in double-digits in 17 straight games.

“This was a solid team win,” Reynolds said. “Josh’s free throws, Antonio’s big shot, we got key contributions from a lot of people.”

Taylor had 18 points and Malachi Leonard 16 for Seton Hill.

SRU improved to 68-18 at home under Reynolds and secured the program’s seventh 20-win season, fourth under the current coach.

The Rock now travels to PSAC West top-seed Gannon (18-8) for a quarterfinal game Tuesday night. The Knights own wins of 68-61 and 59-56 over The Rock this season.

“It’s tough to beat a team three times in a season,” Martin said. “We found that out tonight. Hopefully, they won’t be able to do it Tuesday.”

SETON HILL 65

Malachi Leonard 7-12 2-3 16, Max Kenyi 2-4 5-7 9, Oliver McClade 2-7 0-0 6, David Windsor 2-4 1-1 5, Kameron Taylor 6-9 5-6 18, Nate Perry 1-5 0-0 3, Noah Davis 1-3 0-0 3, Nebojsa Stanojevic 2-5 1-2 5. Totals: 23-49 14-19 65.

SLIPPERY ROCK 68

Maurice Lewis-Briggs 8-18 3-9 20, Cornelius Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Martin 0-4 5-6 5, Antonio Butler 1-4 3-5 6, Tabari Perry 3-5 0-0 6, Maxx Rynd 0-0 0-0 0, Matej Delinac 6-9 3-4 17, Sa’Quan Davis 1-5 2-4 5, Kelvin Dixon 3-3 0-2 7, Erik Raleigh 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 23-50 16-30 68.

Seton Hill 28 37 — 65

Slippery Rock36 32 — 68

3-point goals: McGlade 2, Taylor, Perry, Davis; Lewis-Briggs, Butler, Delinac 2, Davis, Dixon

Tuesday: PSAC Quarterfinals-Slippery Rock at Gannon