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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team saw its modest three-game win streak come to an end Tuesday night as visiting West Chester University handed SRU a 56-53 setback in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference “crossover” action in Morrow Field House.
The loss dropped The Rock's season records to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in PSAC action.
West Chester improved its season records to 5-3 overall, 3-1 in conference action.
The Rock spent virtually the entire game in comeback mode as they led on only two occasions in the game, 5-4 after 90 seconds of action and 53-52 with 45 seconds left to play.
West Chester's Eric Frans erased the second Rock lead with a basket from in the paint that put the Golden Rams up by one, 54-53, with 19 seconds left.
SRU's final hope for victory were dashed when senior guard
Darious Clark's off-balance jump shot failed to fall with two seconds remaining.
WCU's Jon Breeden padded the final margin by sinking a pair of free throws immediately following Clark's unsuccessful shot attempt.
Breeden scored a game-high 13 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the winning attack. Corey Blake added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Senior forward
Devin Taylor paced The Rock attack with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for his fourth “double-double” of the season. Senior forward
Gerald Brooks finished his first game in the Green and White with 10 points and eight rebounds, junior guard
Sa'Quan Davis (pictured) chipped in nine points, senior center
Luiz Santos had seven points, six rebounds and three blocked shots and Clark finished with seven points and five rebounds.
The Rock suffered through a frigid shooting effort as they finished the game with a 30% (17-57) efficiency on their field-goal attempts, made 21% (4-19) of their 3-point shots and sank 75% (15-20) of their free throws.
The hosts also paid the price for 19 turnovers as West Chester converted those miscues into 20 points. SRU turned 13 WCU mistakes into only five points.
The Rock outrebounded the Golden Rams by a 49-38 margin, the sixth time in seven games this winter SRU won the backboard battle.
West Chester made 34% (20-59) of its field-goal attempts, 14% (1-7) of its 3-point tries and 71% (15-21) of its free throws.
The Rock will seek to regain their winning ways Wednesday night when they host Cheyney University in a 7:30 p.m. “crossover” game in Morrow Field House.
Notes: The Rock's point total Tuesday night was its lowest since March 1, 2011 when they scored 51 points in a PSAC tournament quarterfinal win at Mercyhurst College in Erie … Brooks, who earned three All-PSAC-Western Division honors at Indiana (Pa.) between 2006-09, sat out the first six Rock games this winter to fulfill transfer eligibility requirements. He was a first-team All-PSAC-West selection in 2007-08 and 2008-09 after earning second-team All-PSAC-West and division “Rookie of the Year” honors in 2006-07.
