LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Slippery Rock University men's basketball junior forward Khalid Gates was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Athlete of the Week, the league office announced Monday.
 
Gates earned his first PSAC West honor after helping to lead The Rock to a 3-1 record over the last two weeks courtesy of non-conference wins over Daemen University and the University of Charleston as well as a split in a pair of conference contests that included a win over Shepherd University and a loss to Shippensburg University. The Rock's three victories came by an average of 13.7 points.
 
Over four contests, Gates recorded per game averages of 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 of which came on the offensive glass, while shooting 58.3 percent (28-of-48) from the field overall and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) at the free throw line.
 
Gates scored at least 15 points in all four games with the highlights being a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double against Daemen and a career-high 26 points in the Charleston win.
 
A native of Washington D.C., Gates has shined for The Rock since joining the program prior to the start of the season following an All-America two-year JUCO career at Cecil College. Over seven games, Gates has averaged 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and just under one block per game while shooting 53.8 percent from the field, the third highest percentage among all PSAC West athletes.
 
Slippery Rock is off to a great start in 2022-23 as SRU has won six of its first seven games for one of the best openings to a year in program history.
 
Following a week off, Slippery Rock returns to competition 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at Wheeling University for what will be SRU's final non-conference game of the regular season.
 

 
 
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