BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team pushed its winning streak to three games with an 80-72 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference victory Saturday at Bloomsburg University.
 
In addition to maintaining its season-long winning streak, Saturday's victory improves The Rock's record to 5-6 overall and 2-2 inside the PSAC while the host Huskies fall to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in league games.
 
SRU was led to the win by the trio of Jomo Goings, Ike Herster and O'Meech Wilson. Herster and Goings produced matching 20-point performances while Wilson collected a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double – his first in a Rock uniform.
 
In addition to sharing team-high scoring honors, Goings also passed out six assists and made one steal while Herster grabbed six rebounds and found one steal of his own.
 
Fellow starters Luke Howes and Maceo Austin chipped in 10 and nine points, respectively, with Austin also distributing four assists and coming away with two steals. Howes was an efficient 3-for-4 from the field overall, two of which were 3-pointers, and 2-for-3 at the foul line prior to fouling out.
 
All three of The Rock's reserves who saw playing time made significant contributions. Michael Moore blocked two shots, Day Waters scored six points and Sheick Samoura totaled three points and one block.
 
Slippery Rock accounted for 12 of the game's first 17 points as every member of SRU's starting lineup scored early – led by four points and five rebounds from Wilson – en route to a 12-5 lead at the first media timeout.
 
The remainder of the opening half saw The Rock and Huskies trade big runs with SRU ultimately striking last via a Herster layup to send Slippery Rock into the halftime break leading 44-43.
 
Slippery Rock countered Bloomsburg's efficient shooting of 60 percent from the field in the first half by scoring 15 points off 10 Huskies turnovers to claim the halftime lead.
 
Behind three 3-pointers, Slippery Rock opened the second half on a 17-8 run to stretch its slim halftime advantage out to 10 points at 61-51 with 14 minutes to play in regulation. Howes connected on a pair of 3's while Goings hit a triple of his own to go with six points from Austin over the decisive run in which SRU made 6-of-7 field goal attempts.
 
The early second-half spurt was too much for the Huskies to overcome as Slippery Rock went on to maintain its double-digit advantage through much of the remainder of the period en route to its third straight win.
 
A strong defensive effort by The Rock in the final 20 minutes resulted in Bloomsburg being unable to re-replicate its hot first-half shooing as the Huskies made just 10 of their final 28 field goal attempts. SRU meanwhile went 5-for-11 from 3-point range alone in the second half to close out the triumph.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock recorded solid shooting percentages all-around at 46.8 percent overall (29-of-62), 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from 3-point range and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the foul line. The Rock also committed a season-low 10 turnovers while tallying 19 points off 15 BU miscues and turning 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points.
 
Bloomsburg's scoring was centered around the trio of Matt Bengel (20), Louie Wild (18) and Kent Olewiler (14). In total, the Huskies shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field overall, 50 percent (8-of-16) from 3-point range and 72.7 percent (16-of-22) at the foul line.
 
Slippery Rock returns home to host Mansfield 5 p.m. Dec. 17 at Morrow Field House.




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