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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Matt Schaefer scored a team-high 14 points Saturday afternoon to lead The Rock to a 53-43 win over visiting Lock Haven in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action in Morrow Field House.
Junior wing player
Jamar Scales scored seven points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds to complement Schaefer's scoring effort.
The win, SRU's third in the last five games, improved the Green and White's overall record to 5-16. Combined with Clarion's loss Saturday night to division-leading California, the victory also moved SRU into a tie for fourth place in the PSAC-West standings.
The Rock, which is now 3-4 in PSAC-West action, entered Saturday's contest as the fifth-place team in the seven-team division, one game behind Clarion.
The significance of that spot is that the top four teams in the division at the end of regular-season play will earn berths in the conference playoffs.
The Rock has not earned a PSAC playoff berth since the 1999-2000 season, when SRU played in the conference finals.
Saturday's loss dropped Lock Haven to 1-20 overall, 1-6 in PSAC-West action.
To say Saturday's effort wasn't one of the finest offensive performances by either team would be a gross understatement.
The Bald Eagles' point total Saturday is the lowest recorded by a Rock foe since Mercyhurst managed only 40 in the eighth game of the 1989-90 season and is LHU's lowest total this season.
SRU's point total Saturday was its second lowest of the season and the lowest recorded in a win since a 52-51 triumph over Indiana (Pa.) in 1981-82.
The Rock trailed by five points, 31-26, at halftime of Saturday's game but scored the first six points of the second half to take a 32-31 edge with 13:15 left to play.
Lock Haven came right back to score four unanswered points, only to see The Rock respond with a 17-4 run to take a nine-point, 49-40, lead with five minutes remaining.
The Rock never led by less than six points the rest of the game. The final margin was the largest lead of the game.
SRU finished the game with a respectable 50% (19 of 38) efficiency in its action shots, hit 35.7% (5 of 14) from 3-point range and canned 10 of 19 (52.6%) of its free throws. The Rock also enjoyed a 34-21 rebounding advantage.
Lock Haven ended the game with an icy 28.8% (15 of 52) efficiency in action shots, shot 27.6% (8 of 29) from beyond the arc and hit 5 of 10 free throws.
SRU had 18 turnovers compared to LHU's 14.
The Rock scored the first eight points of the game and led for most of the first half before Lock Haven scored 11 of the last 17 points to take a 26-21 lead into intermission.
Lock Haven began its comeback with a 9-2 run in the span of four and a half minutes to turn the 8-0 deficit into a 10-9 advantage.
The Rock scored the next four points to retake the lead, but the Bald Eagles responded with an 8-3 run to take an 18-17 edge with three minutes left before halftime.
An 8-4 run by the Bald Eagles in the final three minutes accounted for the halftime margin.
Schaefer scored nine first-half points for The Rock, who shot 42.1% (8 of 19) from the field, 28.6% (2 of 7) from 3-point range and 50% (3 of 6) from the foul line in the opening 20 minutes.
Lock Haven shot an icy 31% (9 of 29) from the field, 31.3% (5 of 16) from beyond the arc and 50% (3 of 6) from the foul line.
The Rock held a 16-11 rebounding advantage at halftime but had more turnovers, 10-7.
The Rock travels to Edinboro for a division game Wednesday before it hosts Penn State-New Kensington in an 11 a.m. non-conference game next Saturday.
The latter game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday but was moved to Saturday to avoid a scheduling conflict.
Following the game vs. Penn State-New Kensington, SRU entertains division rival Indiana (Pa.) Feb. 20.
