LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team fell on the road to Lock Haven University, 73-66, Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover competition.
 
Saturday's result drops The Rock's record to 3-7 overall and 2-3 inside the PSAC while the host Bald Eagles improve to 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league contests.
 
Maceo Austin led four Rock players in double figures with a team-high 19 points. Jomo Goings was SRU's second-leading scorer at 12 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two assists as well.
 
Point guard Luke Howes went for 11 points in addition to distributing four assists and grabbing six rebounds. Lashon Lindsey just missed out on a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
 
Off the bench, Ike Herster scored five points and Sheick Samoura blocked two shots. Rounding out SRU's leaders was Ja'Mier Fletcher with six points, three rebounds and a block in his sixth start of the season.
 
Lindsey and Austin combined to make The Rock's first five shots of the game as part of a 15-8 run by SRU through the opening seven minutes of regulation. However, LHU answered back by going on a 12-5 spurt of its own to push the game into a 20-20 tie midway through the half.   
 
The first half ended with Slippery Rock and Lock Haven trading baskets as SRU eventually edged its way to a slim 37-33 advantage. Austin and Lindsey scored 22 of The Rock's first-half points. SRU connected on 50 percent of its field goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes, including a 5-of-9 showing from 3-point territory.
 
However, LHU came out of the break hot as it scored 11 of the second half's first 13 points to take a 44-39 lead and force a Slippery Rock timeout with 16:10 to play.
 
Behind a plethora of 3-pointers, Lock Haven proceeded to stretch its lead out to 11 points heading into the under 12 media timeout and while SRU was able to trim the deficit to as little as three points at 66-63 with 1:36 to play, it could never complete its comeback bid as the hot-shooting Bald Eagles hung on down the stretch for a seven-point win.
 
Lock Haven, which entered Saturday ranked 16th in the 18-team PSAC in both made 3-pointers per game and 3-point attempts per game, connected on 10 of its 21 attempts from distance (.476). LHU, which also shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the field overall, also forced The Rock into 19 turnovers while converting 13-of-17 foul shots (.765).
 
LHU's Jalen Gorham scored a game-high 23 points to go with eight rebounds and five steals.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game shooting a solid 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field overall including an 8-of-24 (.333) effort from 3-point range, but struggled with its free throws by going just 6-of-13 at the foul line.
 
SRU will play its final regular season game of the season against a PSAC East team when it hosts Kutztown University 5 p.m. Jan. 3 at Morrow Field House.




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).