SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team will finish off a season-long six-game road trip 6 p.m. Thursday at Davis & Elkins College.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Video and in-game statistics for the game will be provided free of charge by the Davis & Elkins athletic department.
 
GAME 7 DETAILS
Opponent: Davis & Elkins
Date: Thursday – 6 p.m.
Location: Elkins, West Virginia
Venue: McDonnell Center
Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter/X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: SRU leads 9-4
Last Played: Dec. 17, 2021 (SRU won 82-62)
 
SERIES HISTORY
Slippery Rock holds a 9-4 all-time record over Davis & Elkins in a series that originated in 1985. The Rock and Senators last played during the 2008-09 season with SRU cruising to an 82-62 road victory behind a 17-point performance from Erroll Robinson.
 

TALE OF THE TAPE
STAT	SRU	D&E
Scoring*	75.2	81.6
Opp. Scoring*	76.8	72.9
FG%	.433	.462
Opp. FG%	.438	.374
3-Point FG%	.326	.376
Opp. 3-Point FG%	.381	.310
FT%	.728	.723
Rebounds*	39.0	42.1
Rebounding Margin	+3.3	+5.9
Turnovers*	14.0	15.5
Opp. Turnovers*	10.8	12.1
Turnover Margin	-3.2	-3.4
Steals*	5.5	5.7
Blocks*	5.7	3.8
* per game stats

FIRST OF TWO VS. THE SENATORS
Thursday's game is the first of two games that The Rock and Davis & Elkins will play this season as the two non-conference foes embark on a home-and-home series this year. D&E will make the return trip to Morrow Field House on Jan. 8.
 
This year's series between The Rock and D&E is somewhat of a rarity for Slippery Rock as it hasn't played a fellow Division II team from outside of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference twice in the regular season since the 1999-00 season when, coincidentally enough, SRU swept a pair of games from Davis & Elkins.

SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 1-5
• Home Record: 1-0
• Away Record: 0-5
• Streak: L5
• Last 5 Games: 0-5
• Head Coach: Ian Grady | Sixth season (69-53, .566)

LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock opened the PSAC portion of its schedule with a pair of narrow road losses Dec. 1 at West Chester (84-82) and Dec. 2 versus Millersville (69-66).
 
CLOSE CALLS
Of The Rock's five losses, three have come in one-possession decisions with another being only an eight-point margin.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Slippery Rock enters the Davis & Elkins game ranked seventh in the nation in blocks per game at 5.7 a contest. SRU has had no fewer than three blocks in any of its six games this season.
 
SRU's lofty national ranking can be attributed to a group effort in which six athletes have at least four blocks on the year with Lashon Lindsey leading the group at eight rejections followed by the five-block trio of Ja'Mier Fletcher, Maceo Austin and Bobby Clifford. Rounding out the group with four blocks apiece are Nik Cazacu and Sheick Samoura.
 
THE ROCK ROTATION
• Austin spearheads a balanced Rock offense in which five athletes average double-figure points per game by scoring a team-best 15.0 ppg while also providing SRU with 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks a contest.
 
• Ike Herster, who was SRU's top perimeter threat in crossover games against West Chester and Millersville, has upped his scoring output to 13.3 ppg while shooting 37.1 percent from 3-point range.
 
• Lindsey has nearly averaged a double-double through six games of 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds to go with 2.5 assists and 1.3 blocks a night all the while shooting a Rock-best .492 field goal percentage.
 
• After redshirting as a true freshman a season ago, Samoura has quickly established himself as a reliable offensive presence for SRU this year. Samoura, who averages 11.7 points per game, has scored between 11 and 13 points in five of The Rock's six games while posting an impressive shooting percentage "slash line" of .478 (FG) / .429 (3PT) / .773 (FT). His 3-point field goal percentage ranks sixth in the PSAC.
 
• Jomo Goings is a proven difference maker in every facet of the game for Slippery Rock. A starter in four of his five games played, Goings not only scores 11.2 points per game on solid shooting percentages of .488 from the field overall and .400 from 3-point territory, but he also leads SRU in steals with seven and is The Rock's third leading rebounder at 5.8 rpg.
 
• Fletcher worked his into SRU's starting lineup the last two games and responded by recording back-to-back eight-rebound performances against West Chester and Millersville. Fletcher, who also had 10 points and three blocks at WCU, is shooting 52.4 percent (11-of-21) in his first five games in a Rock uniform.
 
• Point guard Luke Howes is one of two Rock players to have started all six games this season. Howes, who has made five of his last nine field goal attempts, scores 5.7 ppg and is tied for second on The Rock in total steals (6) while passing out 2.3 assists a night.
 
• Capping off what has become The Rock's standard eight-man rotation is Clifford, who is tied with Lindsey for the team lead in offensive rebounding at 2.0 per game.
 
ROCK TRENDS
• Austin is the only Rock athlete to have scored at least 10 points in every game he's played this season.
 
• Herster has missed just one of his 13 free throws attempted over the last five games. He has also gone 6-of-14 (.429) from 3-point range over that time.
 
• Lindsey has recorded a double-double in two of The Rock's last three games. He has also blocked three shots in each of his double-double performances.
 
• Samoura has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season.
 
• Goings has been held without a steal and below five rebounds just once so far in 2023-24.
 
• Howes is shooting 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from the field over the last four games.
 
• Fletcher has pulled down a minimum of seven rebounds in his last three appearances.
 
• Slippery Rock has held a positive rebounding margin in four of its six games this year, including a season-best +13 (43-30) most recently at Millersville.
 
• SRU's bench has outscored its counterpart in every game (141-70).

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: 87
 
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: 2,131
 
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: 73
 
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. Lashon Lindsey: 565
24. Bob Wiegend (1968-71): 556

DAVIS & ELKINS PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 7-3
• Home Record: 4-1
• Away Record: 2-1
• Neutral Site Record: 1-1
• Streak: W2
• Last 5 Games: 3-2
• Head Coach: Daniel Mondragon | Fifth season (46-66, .411)
 
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
• Davis & Elkins welcomes The Rock after having won seven of its first 10 games for what is the Senators' best 10-game start to a season this decade. D&E's three losses, one of which was to No. 2 West Liberty, have come by a combined total of just 13 points.
 
• The Senators, who average 81.6 ppg while allowing 72.9 ppg, rank fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.374) and 15th in rebounding (42.10).
 
• Davis & Elkins shoots 46.2 percent from the field overall and 37.6 percent from 3-point range for an average of 8.8 made triples a game.
 
• Sam Rolle IV, the 2020-21 Mountain East conference Freshman of the Year, leads Davis & Elkins. In addition to ranking 10th in the nation in assists per game (6.0), Rolle IV also scores 16.2 ppg and pulls down 4.1 rpg while shooting 45.8 percent from the field.
 
• Tristan Starks (12.5 ppg) and Vadim Clanet (10.5 ppg) round out the Senators' top scorers while Clarens Pierre is 11th in Division II in total blocks with 21 to go with averages of 8.8 points and 6.7 rebounds a night.

• Davis & Elkins was ranked seventh in the most recent D2CSC Atlantic Region Poll.

UP NEXT
Slippery Rock returns to PSAC crossover competition when it hosts back-to-back games at Morrow Field House 5 p.m. Dec. 18 versus Shepherd University and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19 against Shippensburg University.




To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).