SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team begins the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference portion of its 2023-24 schedule with a pair of road crossover games this weekend against its Eastern Division counterparts.
 
Slippery Rock will first travel to West Chester University 5 p.m. Friday followed by a 3 p.m. Saturday game at Millersville University.
 
TICKETS
Tickets for Saturday's game against Millersville may be purchased HERE.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Video and in-game statistics for both games this weekend will be available free of charge at the below links.
 
GAME 5 DETAILS
Opponent: West Chester
Date: Friday – 5 p.m.
Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Venue: Hollinger Field House
Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter/X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: WCU leads 14-8
Last Played: Dec. 19, 2021 (SRU won 86-81)
 
SERIES HISTORY
While West Chester holds a 14-8 all-time record against The Rock, SRU has won three of the last four meetings in the series including an 86-81 victory over the Golden Rams the last time the two teams met on Dec. 19, 2021. Jonathan McFall scored a game-high 21 points in the win.
 
Three current members of The Rock's roster saw playing time in the most recent game between SRU and WCU. Bobby Clifford went for 17 points, six rebounds and a block while Lashon Lindsey (9 points, four rebounds, one steal) and Nik Cazacu (one steal) came off the bench. 
 
Of the current active roster for West Chester, Robert Smith started the game and finished with 14 points and two steals. Moro Osumanu saw time as a reserve with four points and three rebounds.
 
A victory Friday would mark The Rock's first victory over West Chester away from Morrow Field House.
 
GAME 6 DETAILS
Opponent: Millersville
Date: Saturday – 3 p.m.
Location: Millersville, Pennsylvania
Venue: Pucillo Gymnasium
Tickets: Link
Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter/X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: MU leads 21-11
Last Played: Jan. 26, 2022 (MU won 77-69)
 
SERIES HISTORY
Much like the West Chester series, Millersville holds the overall advantage in the all-time series against SRU with a 21-11 record, but The Rock has the edge of late with a 7-2 record against the Marauders since 2010.
 
Two seasons ago, the Marauders took advantage of a rough first half by SRU that resulted in just 28 points over the opening 20 minutes en route to a 77-69 home victory Jan. 26, 2022 at Pucillo Gymnasium. Lindsey led The Rock's efforts in the loss with an 18-point, eight-rebound, three-assist, two-block showing.
 
A pair of Marauders that played in Millersville's last win over The Rock are still active on the roster in Jaden Faulkner (7 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) and Jahme Ested (1 rebound).
 

TALE OF THE TAPE
STAT	SRU	WCU	MU
Scoring*	75.8	70.2	76.0
Opp. Scoring*	77.0	74.0	70.2
FG%	.431	.412	.488
Opp. FG%	.449	.430	.468
3-Point FG%	.320	.236	.308
Opp. 3-Point FG%	.432	.294	.376
FT%	.712	.680	.685
Rebounds*	37.2	37.8	33.6
Rebounding Margin	+1.0	+5.8	+1.8
Turnovers*	12.8	15.8	12.0
Opp. Turnovers*	13.5	15.6	14.4
Turnover Margin	+0.8	-0.2	+2.4
Steals*	6.5	6.6	6.2
Blocks*	5.3	3.0	2.2
* per game stats

SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 1-3
• Home Record: 1-0
• Away Record: 0-3
• Streak: L3
• Head Coach: Ian Grady | Sixth season (69-51, .575)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock concluded its Hawaii trip with a 75-67 loss at Chaminade (Box Score).
 
THESE COUNT TOO
This weekend's games are the first of six games that The Rock will play against teams from the PSAC East. All six games count towards the league standings alongside SRU's standard league-mandated 16-game round robin PSAC West slate.
 
SRU's remaining crossover schedule this season includes home games against Shepherd (Dec. 18), Shippensburg (Dec. 19) and Kutztown (Jan. 3) as well as a road game at Lock Haven (Dec. 30).
 
CROSSOVER KINGS
Dating back to the 2011-12 season when the PSAC began counting crossover games as division contests, Slippery Rock has compiled a record of 43-26 (.623) overall against Eastern Division teams. SRU possess a 14-8 (.636) record in crossover games under head coach Ian Grady.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK IN BACK-TO-BACKS
Stretches of two games in two days have not been a problem for The Rock historically speaking. Dating back to the 2009-10 season, SRU is a strong 64-36 (.640) when playing contests in back-to-back days. The Rock are even more impressive in the second leg of back-to-backs as evidenced by a 35-15 (.700) in those contests.
 
A season ago, Slippery Rock went 5-1 when playing back-to-back games. So far this year, SRU is 0-2 when playing two games in two days with single-digit losses to Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade.
 
IT'S A SMALL WORLD
Basketball can often be a small community despite its sprawling reach across the country. This weekend's games are no exception for The Rock, Golden Rams and Marauders.
 
• The Rock's Ja'Mier Fletcher and West Chester's Elijah Allen were teammates at Division I Wagner during the 2020-21 season.
 
• Millersville's Matt Dade played two games against The Rock earlier in his career when he was a member of the West Chester program.
 
• Two more familiar faces for SRU this weekend will be West Chester's Mekhi Reynolds and Millersville's Dylin Borden. Reynolds is formally of Clarion where he played SRU three times – scoring 16 points in one of those games – while Borden began his career at California and saw playing time in three games versus The Rock as a redshirt freshman in 2021-22.
 
ONE OF A KIND IN THE REGION
As of Nov. 29, The Rock's Lashon Lindsey has displayed a versatility rarely seen by a forward on the Division II level. Through four games, Lindsey has posted per game averages of 13.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 50 percent from the field.
 
Across the Atlantic Region, Lindsey is the only athlete to average at least 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game with a field goal percentage of at least 50 percent. On a national level, there are just five athletes to hit those marks.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Slippery Rock enters crossover competition leading the PSAC in blocks with 5.3 per game. SRU began the year with eight blocks against West Virginia Wesleyan and recently blocked seven shots at Chaminade with a pair of three-rejection outings in between.
 
Lindsey and Maceo Austin share the team lead with five blocks apiece. Sheick Samoura (3), Nik Cacacu (3) and Ja'Mier Fletcher (2) all have multiple blocks this year as well.
 
THE ROCK FROM DEEP
Thanks in no small part to 12 made 3-pointers in its season-opening win versus West Virginia Wesleyan, Slippery Rock has averaged 7.8 made 3-pointers per game – the third highest average in the PSAC.
 
However, SRU will need to return closer to its marksmanship displayed against Wesleyan as opposed to its last three games in which it has been held under 30 percent from distance in each contest.
 
Jomo Goings has been SRU's most accurate shooter from 3-point territory this year at 45.5 percent (5-for-11) followed by Samoura (.438 / 7-for-16) and Ike Herster (.333 / 7-for-21).
 
CLEANING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Slippery Rock pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in three of its four games this season including a season-best 17 in SRU's most recent game against Chaminade. All told, SRU's 13.3 offensive rebounds per game rank fourth in the PSAC.
 
The Rock's performance on the offensive glass has been a group effort in which seven athletes average at least 1.0 orpg led by Lindsey (3.0) and Bobby Clifford (2.5) followed by Austin (1.8), Fletcher (1.7), Herster (1.3), Goings (1.0) and Samoura (1.0).
 
THE ROCK ROTATION
• SRU has used a primary eight-man rotation over its three road games of Austin (34.0 mpg), Lindsey (33.5), Herster (28.5), Goings (28.3), Luke Howes (27.5), Samoura (18.5), Clifford (17.5) and Fletcher (13.0).
 
• Heading into West Chester, Slippery Rock's offense has been a balanced attack that features five players averaging at least 11 points per game in Austin (16.0), Lindsey (13.3), Samoura (12.8), Goings (11.7) and Herster (11.0).
 
• Austin and Samoura have both finished in double figures in every game this season.
 
• Goings leads The Rock with six steals in his three games played in addition to ranking second on the team in rebounding behind Lindsey with 6.0 rpg. Austin and Fletcher serve as The Rock's other top two rebounders with matching 4.3 per game averages.
 
• Fletcher is coming off his best game in a Rock uniform against Chaminade in which he accounted for seven rebounds and four points over 17 minutes.
 
• Lindsey has recorded double-doubles in two of The Rock's four games this season. Included in the double-doubles is a 13-point, 14-rebound, three-block performance versus Chaminade.
 
• Samoura has been a model of consistency in the early stages of the season as the redshirt freshman is yet to shoot below 40 percent from the field in a game. He made his first collegiate start at Chaminade.
 
• Luke Howes guides the offense with a team-high 2.8 assists per game. Howes also posted season-bests against Chaminade in scoring (nine points) and steals (five).
 
CAREER RECORDS WATCH
Blocks
1. Kevin Jones (1987-91): 184
2. Micah Till (2017-20): 118
3. Erik Raleigh (2013-16): 115
4. Tabari Perry (2010-14): 98
5. Lashon Lindsey: 84
5. Brandon Simmons (2017-18): 84
 
Minutes Played (14-18)
14. Shannon Pullium (1984-89): 2,188
15. Mark Metzka (1991-95): 2,184
16. William Johnson (2002-05): 2, 179
17. Micha Till (2017-20): 2,170
18. Lashon Lindsey: 2,090
 
3-Pointers (No. 17-21)
17. Derek Gaus (1990-94): 76
17. Montez Briggs (1999-01): 76
19. Tabari Perry (2010-14): 75
20. Jon Valeriano (2010-12): 74
21. Lashon Lindsey: 70
 
Offensive Rebounds (No. 19-22)
19. Joe Lewandowski (1995-97): 145
20. Christal Malalu (2016-18): 143
20. Cornelius Brown (2013-16): 143
22. Lashon Lindsey: 139
22. Troy Miller (1991-94): 139
 
Steals (20-23)
20. Dennis Greene (1991-95): 86
21. Paul Gilbert (1994-97): 83
22. Bob McConnell (1988-92): 78
23. Lashon Lindsey: 77
 
Rebounds (No. 20-24)
20. Denny Kopka (1971-74): 643
21. Curt Williams (1984-88): 623
22. Peyton Tomblin (1971-74): 574
23. Bob Wiegend (1968-71): 556
24. Lashon Lindsey: 547
 
WEST CHESTER PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 2-3
• Home Record: 0-1
• Away Record: 1-2
• Neutral Site Record: 1-0
• Streak: W1
• Last 5 Games: 2-3
• Head Coach: Damien Blair | 15th season (263-145, .645)
 
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS
• Following a season-opening win over St. Augustine's, West Chester dropped its next three games before snapping its slide with a victory over Chestnut Hill. Outside of a 20-point loss to Virginia State, every game WCU has played this year has been decided by seven points or less.
 
• While he has only played in two games, Robert Smith leads WCU in scoring at 17.5 ppg. Jordan Keller averages a double-double at 10.6 ppg and 10.0 rpg to go with 3.0 apg.
 
• Rounding out WCU's offensive leaders are Elijah Allen (15.6 ppg) and Joshua Walker (11.2 ppg).
 
• While West Chester ranks in the middle of the pack in the PSAC in points allowed (74.0), the Golden Rams rank just 15th in scoring at 70.2 a game. WCU does rank third in the PSAC in rebounding margin (+5.8).
 
MILLERSVILLE PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 4-1
• Home Record: 4-0
• Away Record: 0-1
• Streak: W2
• Last 5 Games: 2-3
• Head Coach: Casey Stitzel | Seventh season at MU (97-84, .536)
 
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS
• A loss to Bowie State is the only blemish on the Marauders schedule to date as Millersville has opened the year with wins over Livingstone, Virginia Union, Chestnut Hill and Jefferson sandwiched around the Bowie State defeat.
 
• Prior to playing The Rock, Millersville will host California (Pa.) Friday.
 
• The Marauders have shot the ball extremely well through the early stages of the season as they rank third in the PSAC in team field goal percentage at .488. Individually, Drew Stover, who averages 14.6 ppg, leads the nation with a 77.3 field goal percentage.
 
• Jaden Faulkner and Matt Dade are Millersville's leading scorers with respective per game averages of 18.4 and 16.0. Faulkner also hands out a PSAC-best 6.2 assists per game.
 
• MU is an inside centric team as it has attempted a league low 13 3-point attempts per game.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock closes out its six-game road trip 6 p.m. Dec. 14 at Davis & Elkins College.




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