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CLARION, Pa. – Slippery Rock University recorded its third consecutive road victory and assumed sole possession of first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division standings Saturday night with a 75-62 win at Clarion University.
The Rock began the day tied with Edinboro for the top spot in the division standings and moved into sole possession when the Fighting Scots lost to California (Pa.).
SRU, which improved its season records to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in PSAC action, holds a slim one-game lead over four other PSAC-West teams, California, Edinboro, Indiana and Mercyhurst.
Clarion saw its season records drop to 2-4 overall, 1-2 in PSAC action.
For the second consecutive game, senior guard
Darious Clark came off the bench Saturday night to lead The Rock in scoring. Clark finished with 18 points to share game-high honors with Clarion's Mike Kromka.
Five other Rock players scored seven or more points in the winners' balanced scoring attack. Senior guard
Devin Taylor recorded his team-best third “double-double” of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while junior forward
Tabari Perry (pictured) had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Senior center
Luiz Santos had nine points to go along with a career- and game-high 15 rebounds, senior guard
John Bayardelle chipped in eight points and junior guard
Sa'Quan Davis scored seven points.
Behind the 1-2-3 punch of Santos, Taylor and Perry, The Rock outrebounded Clarion by a 46-36 margin. That marked the fifth time in six games this winter The Rock, last year's national (NCAA Division II) rebounding margin champions, ruled the backboards.
Kromka, who had nine rebounds in addition to his scoring total, was one of four Clarion players to score 10 or more points. His supporting cast included Anthony Baker with 10 points and nine rebounds and Marques Jones and Leonard Patterson with 10 points each.
The Rock finished the game with a 42% (27-65) efficiency on its field-goal attempts, hit four of 16 shots from 3-point range and sank 17 of 21 (81%) free throws.
Clarion shot 38% (24-63) from the field, 29% (5-17) from 3-point range and 56% (9-16) from the foul line.
SRU and Clarion each committed nine turnovers in the game.
Clarion held 2-0 and 5-2 leads before The Rock took the lead for good with an 8-0 run during a two-minute span that gave the guests a 10-5 advantage.
The Rock held a seven-point, 18-11, lead with 13 minutes left in the first half, only to see Clarion run off six unanswered points in the next 75 seconds to trim the margin to one, 18-17, with 10:45 left before halftime.
A 7-0 Rock run in the next three and a half minutes made it a 25-17 game with 7:15 left in the half before the teams traded baskets for a six-minute span.
SRU closed out the first half with four unanswered points and took a 34-27 advantage into the intermission.
The Rock, after hitting 10 of their first 19 shots (53%) from the floor in the opening 10 minutes of action, cooled off considerably as they made only three of their last 14 shots to finish the half with a 39% efficiency. Clarion ended the half with a 33% reading on its field-goal attempts.
Clarion closed The Rock lead to four points, 37-33, two and a half minutes into the second half of action before the guests reassumed firm and final control of the action.
The Rock outscored Clarion by a 32-13 margin in the next 11 minutes to take a 23-point, 69-46, lead with 5:30 remaining in the game. The guests' lead was never less than 11 points thereafter.
SRU is idle until Dec. 18, when it will host West Chester University in a PSAC “crossover” game in Morrow Field House. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. That game opens a three-game homestand for the Green and White.
