SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team will look to polish off a season-sweep of Clarion with a road victory over the Golden Eagles 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Video and in-game statistics for Wednesday's game will be available at the below links courtesy of the Clarion Sports Information Department.
 
GAME 25 DETAILS
Opponent: Clarion
Date: Wednesday – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Clarion, Pennsylvania
Venue: Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium
Video: Link
Live Stats: Link
In-game Updates: Twitter/X (@Rock_Athletics)
All-Time Series: SRU leads 113-84
Last Played: Jan. 24, 2024 (SRU won 64-54)
 
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Slippery Rock leads 113-84
Current Streak: SRU W4
First Meeting: Feb. 6, 1911 (SRU won 25-23)
Last Meeting: Jan. 24, 2024 (SRU won 64-54)
Most Points, SRU: 107 - Jan. 6, 1968
Most Points, Clarion: 113 – Feb. 17, 1979
Largest Victory, SRU: 39 (51-12), Jan. 5, 1923
Largest Victory, Clarion: 39 (94-55), Jan 15, 1997
SRU coach Ian Grady vs. Clarion: 8-1
Clarion coach Damian Pitts vs. SRU: 1-6
 
The Slippery Rock – Clarion series can be traced all the way back 1911. Over the last 113 years, The Rock and Golden Eagles have met 197 times with SRU claiming a 113-84 record in the series.
 
Slippery Rock has controlled the series with the Golden Eagles of late as SRU holds an 11-2 record against Clarion dating back to the 2017-18 season. Included over that stretch is four Rock victories in Tippin Gymnasium as well as a 64-54 victory at home earlier in the season.
 
LAST MEETING
Slippery Rock led for 37 minutes on the way to a near wire-to-wire 64-54 victory over Clarion Jan. 24 at Morrow Field House.
 
The duo of Ike Herster and Maceo Austin combined to score 40 of The Rock's 64 points with Herster pouring in a game-high 21 points and Austin adding 19 points, six rebounds, three steals and one block.
 
SRU connected on 42.9 percent (9-of-21) of its 3-pointers while forcing Clarion into 19 turnovers and limiting the Golden Eagles to a 37.3 field goal percentage.
 

TALE OF THE TAPE
STAT	ROCK	CLARION
Scoring*	75.5	73.9
Opp. Scoring*	73.6	79.6
FG%	.444	.437
Opp. FG%	.415	.461
3-Point FG%	.311	328
Opp. 3-Point FG%	.343	.336
FT%	.724	.692
Rebounds*	40.0	37.6
Rebounding Margin	+3.4	+0.7
Turnovers*	14.1	17.4
Opp. Turnovers*	12.0	13.3
Turnover Margin	-2.0	-4.1
Steals*	6.6	7.3
Blocks*	5.4	3.7
* per game stats

 SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 12-12
• PSAC Record: 10-8
• PSAC West Standings: 4th
• Home Record: 10-1
• Away Record: 2-11
• Streak: W1
• Last 5 Games: 3-2
• Head Coach: Ian Grady | Sixth season (80-60, .571)

LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock earned a 61-58 Senior Day victory over Pitt-Johnstown Feb. 17 at Morrow Field House. Ike Herster came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points to go with five rebounds and a steal in pacing SRU's efforts against UPJ (Box Score).
 
WE'RE IN…
The Rock's victory over Pitt-Johnstown last weekend, combined with losses by Edinboro and Clarion, clinched a PSAC Tournament berth for The Rock. SRU has now qualified for the PSAC Tournament the last seven seasons in which the event has been held.
 
BUT THERE'S STILL WORK TO BE DONE
With a spot in the PSAC Tournament secured, Slippery Rock now turns its focus on solidifying its seeding to help set up a postseason run.
 
The top six teams in both the Western Division and Eastern Division standings at the end of the regular season qualify for the PSAC Tournament with the top two seeds in each division receiving first-round byes and the No. 3 and No. 4 squads earning the right to host opening-round games.
 
Entering Wednesday, Slippery Rock finds itself occupying fourth place in the PSAC West standings: three games behind Indiana (Pa.) for third place, but one game ahead of Mercyhurst and two in front of sixth-place Seton Hill.
 
Four of the six available slots in the Western Division have been locked up by Gannon (17-2), California (15-3), Indiana (13-5) and The Rock (10-8). Mercyhurst (9-9) and Seton Hill (8-10) are also on the cusp of officially joining the tournament field.
 
If history is any indication, it is very important that SRU at worst maintains its hold on fourth place in the PSAC West. Since the 2012-13 season, the fifth and sixth seeds in the PSAC West and PSAC East hold a combined record of just 5-35 in first-round games.

SWEEP SZN
Slippery Rock's victory over Pitt-Johnstown locked up SRU's first season-sweep of the Mountain Cats since the 2013-14 season.
 
The UPJ sweep is the first of potentially four PSAC West season-sweeps The Rock can tally this year as they have already defeated Edinboro, Mercyhurst and Clarion in first leg of their round-robin conference schedule.
 
The last time SRU swept at least four of its PSAC West counterparts came in 2018-19 when The Rock bested Seton Hill, California, Clarion, Edinboro and Mercyhurst.
 
WINNING WITH DEFENSE
Slippery Rock ranks second in the PSAC in opponent field goal percentage at .415. SRU has made life increasingly harder on its opponents as the season has progressed. In 13 of the last 15 games, opponents have shot below their season field goal percentage when facing The Rock.
 
Most recently, Pitt-Johnstown came into its game against Slippery Rock shooting 45.8 percent from the field for the season before making just 33.8 percent of its field goal attempts in the game.
 
In its win against Clarion earlier in the season, the Golden Eagles were 44.4 percent shooters on the year before being limited to a mere 37.3 field goal percentage.
 
The Rock's last three wins have all came with SRU holding its opponents under 60 points as well.

AN ALL-AROUND THREAT
Maceo Austin's offensive prowess is well documented with his scoring acumen that has resulted in 17.5 points per game as well as 2.3 assists a contest and 2.0 of his 6.5 rebounds per game coming on the offensive glass. However, it's his defense that has made him one of the top all-round athletes in the PSAC.
 
Austin, who leads SRU in both total blocks (29 / 1.3 bpg) and steals (36 / 1.6 spg), is the only athlete in the PSAC to be a top-15 scorer while also ranking in the top-15 in steals, rebounds and blocks.
 
Heading to Clarion, Austin ranks second in the PSAC in blocks, ninth in steals, 10th in rebounding and 11th in scoring.
 
8 IN A ROW FOR HERSTER
Ike Herster has made a 3-pointer in eight straight games. Since 2008-09 (16 seasons), there have been 20 SRU athletes to make a 3-pointer in at least eight straight games, with the record being 23 set by John Warren II in 2018-19.
 
On the year, Herster has averaged 14.4 points per game thanks in no small part to 46 made 3-pointers at a 34.6 percent clip. He ranks 11th in the conference in made 3-pointers per game (1.9) and 15th among qualified athletes in 3-point percentage.
 
GOINGS TO ENTER STEALS LEDGER
Jomo Goings has recorded five steals in the last three games to push his career total to 68 and in the process climb to within one takeaway of tying Maron Brown for 25th place in program history for steals at The Rock.
 
Goings has needed just 56 career games to place his name among The Rock's best in terms of steals. The redshirt sophomore is in the midst of breakout year in which he has produced per game averages of 12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 47.9 percent from the field, 40 percent from distance and 82 percent at the foul line.

NO ROOKIE WALL FOR SAMOURA
Sheick Samoura has been great for The Rock in his redshirt freshman campaign. As one of SRU's top reserves, Samoura has come off the bench to average 7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. In addition to being tied for the SRU in blocks per game.
 
SENIOR LEADERS
The Rock's normal seven-man rotation features a pair of seniors in Lashon Lindsey and Bobby Clifford.
 
A starter in 22 of his 23 games played, Lindsey not only ranks second in the PSAC in rebounding (9.1) and fourth in blocks (1.2), but he also scores 8.6 points per game while passing out 2.3 assists a contest and securing just under one steal a night.
 
Clifford meanwhile has etched out a role as one of The Rock's top reserves. Over 24 games, the Pittsburgh native has scored 4.6 ppg while grabbing 3.5 rpg. After scoring seven or more points just twice in SRU's first 17 contests, Clifford has accomplished that feat in six of the last seven games.
 
HOWES RUNNING THE SHOW
Point guard Luke Howes is the only SRU athlete to have started all 24 games this season and at 30.5 minutes per game is one of just three players – along with Austin (34.8) and Lindsey (32.7) – to be on the court at least 30 minutes a game.
 
In his first season with The Rock, Howes has averaged 7.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
 
ROCK DUO CLIMBING SCORING LIST
With a minimum of five games remaining in the season, Maceo Austin and Ike Herster already find themselves ranked among the top scorers in program history in terms of points scored by transfers in their first year at SRU.
 
Austin currently ranks 11th on the list with 402 points - 13 point behind Tyler Frederick (2021-22), Troy Miller (1991-92) and Doug Zimmerman (1970-71) who are in a three-way tie for eighth place. Herster meanwhile ranks 20th currently with 346, 10 behind Maron Brown (2008-09) in 19th place.
 
The record for points scored by a transfer in their first year at SRU belongs to Micah Till, who registered 640 during the 2017-18 season.

SRU AMONG NATION'S BEST IN BLOCKS AND BOARDS
Slippery Rock maintained its footing not only on top of the PSAC in terms of both season rebounding (40.0 per game) and rejections (5.4), but also across all of Division II after totaling seven blocks and 42 rebounds in its win against Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Through 24 games, Slippery Rock ranks sixth in Division II in blocks per game and 24th in the nation in rebounding. Slippery Rock finished the 2022-23 season leading the PSAC in blocks while its last team rebounding title came in 2017-18.
 
GETTING GOING ON THE ROAD
Slippery Rock has done a remarkable job bouncing back from its 1-6 record to start the year with 11 wins over its last 17 games. However, if SRU is going to make a postseason run it still must overcome its road struggles. On the season, The Rock are just 2-11 in games played away from Morrow Field House. Eight of the road setbacks have been single-digit defeats.
  
UPCOMING EVENTS
Both of The Rock's final two home games – Saturday vs. Indiana (Pa.) and Feb. 28 against Edinboro – will be special events at SRU.
 
The IUP contest will serve as Slippery Rock's annual "White Out Game" while the Edinboro date will feature a food drive with all donated items going to Rock Pantry+ (Slippery Rock University's food pantry which provides supplementary food and resources to students experiencing food insecurity on campus).
 
More details about both events will come in individual releases.
 
ROCK AMONG PSAC'S BEST (INDIVIDUAL LEADERS)
Maceo Austin
• Blocks Per Game: (2nd / 1.3)
• Steals: (9th / 1.6)
• Offensive Rebounding: (9th / 2.0)
• Minutes: (9th / 34.8)
• Total Rebounding: (10th / 6.5)
• Scoring: (11th / 17.5)
• Field Goal %: (16th / .456)
 
Lashon Lindsey
• Total Rebounding: (2nd / 9.1)
• Blocks Per Game: (4th / 1.2)
• Defensive Rebounding: (4th / 6.9)
• Offensive Rebounding: (7th / 2.2)
 
Ike Herster
• Free Throw %: (9th / .804)
• 3pt Per Game: (11th / 1.9)
• 3pt Field Goal %: (15th / .346)
• Scoring: (18th / 14.4)
 
Jomo Goings
• Total Rebounding: (15th / 6.1)
• Steals: (16th / 1.5)
 
Sheick Samoura
• Blocks Per Game: (2nd / 1.3)
 
HOW THE ROCK COMPARES (PSAC TEAM RANKINGS)
• Scoring: 9th (75.5)
• Points Allowed Per Game: 7th (73.6)
• Scoring Margin: 8th (+1.8)
• Field Goal %: 12th (.444)
• Opponent Field Goal %: 2nd (.415)
• 3pt-Field Goal %: 17th (.311)
• Opponent 3pt-Field Goal %: 8th (.343)
• 3pt Per Game: 14th (6.7)
• Free Throw %: 7th (.724)
• Rebounds Per Game: 1st (40.0)
• Rebounding Margin: 2nd (+3.4)
• Steals Per Game: 14th (6.6)
• Blocks Per Game: 1st (5.4)
• Turnovers Per Game: 11th (14.1)
• Opponent Turnovers Per Game: 16th (12.0)
• Turnover Margin: 14th (-2.0)
 
SINGLE-SEASON RECORD WATCH
Made 3-Pointers (21-24)
t21. Kenny Smith (2006-07): 48
t21. Bubby Goodwin (2014-15): 48
23. Dennis Greene (1993-94): 47
t24. Ike Herster (2023-24): 46
t24. Jared Armstrong (2019-20): 46
 
BLOCKS (22-25)
22. Dan Pratt (1993-94): 32
t23. Devin Taylor (2010-11): 30
t23. Nate Duck (1978-79): 30
t25. Maceo Austin (2023-24): 29
t25. Dan Pratt (1992-93): 29
t25. Lashon Lindsey (2022-23): 29
 
CAREER RECORDS WATCH
Blocks
1. Kevin Jones (1987-91): 184
2. Micah Till (2017-20): 118
3. Erik Raleigh (2013-16): 115
4. Lashon Lindsey: 107
 
Minutes Played (4-8)
4. Glenn Reepmeyer (2002-07): 2,983
5. Eroll Robinson (2005-09): 2,866
6. Kevin Jones (1987-91): 2,849
7. Dave Freeman (1998-03): 2,740
8. Lashon Lindsey: 2,707
 
Offensive Rebounds (No. 10-13)
10. Dave Freeman (1998-03): 220
11. Chaquille Pratt (2011-16): 204
12. Rob Wilson (1989-91): 180
13. Lashon Lindsey: 177
 
Steals (13-16)
13. Dave Johnson (2001-04): 102
14. Glenn Reepmeyer (2002-07): 98
15. Lashon Lindsey: 93
16. Mark Metzka (1991-95): 91
 
3-Pointers (No. 13-16)
13. Frankie Hughes (2021-22): 85
14. Micah Till (2017-20): 84
15. Donald Burnett (1990-91, 96-97): 83
16. Lashon Lindsey: 82
 
Rebounds (No. 13-16)
13. Rom Beck (1950-54): 741
14. Kevin Jones (1987-91): 728
15. Ron Haten (1974-78): 724
t16. Lashon Lindsey: 717
t16. Jon Boyd (1962-66): 717
 
CLARION PRIMER
• Roster: Link
• Stats: Link
• Overall Record: 7-8
• PSAC Record: 5-14
• PSAC West Standings: 8th
• Home Record: 3-9
• Away Record: 4-9
• Streak: L3
• Last 5 Games: 1-4
• Head Coach: Damian Pitts | Fifth season at Clarion (28-91, .235)

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Clarion enters Wednesday led by Cam Kearney, who is good for 16.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Four other Golden Eagles are double-digit scorers in Steve Kelly (11.7), Jeremy Thomas II (10.7), Gavin Gote (10.5) and Jayson Harris (10.4).
 
At 44.1 percent from beyond the arc, Cote is Clarion's marksman who leads the PSAC and ranks 22nd in Division II in terms of 3-point accuracy.
 
As a team, Clarion is just below the middle of the PSAC in both scoring (12th / 73.9 ppg) and points allowed (11th / 79.6).
 
Turnovers have plagued Clarion this year: the Golden Eagles come into their second game against The Rock averaging 17.4 turnovers per game which ranks 285th out of 289 qualified Division II teams. Clarion committed 19 miscues against SRU earlier in the season.
 
Thomas II was a problem for The Rock in the first game of the season between the two schools as the redshirt freshman California (Pa.) transfer went for an 18-point, 14-rebound, three-steal double-double.

Clarion welcomes Slippery Rock looking to snap a three-game losing streak that includes a recent 100-81 defeat at nationally ranked Gannon on Feb. 17.

GOLDEN EAGLE STAT LEADERS (Per Game)
SCORING: Cam Kearney (16.4), Steve Kelly (11.7)
FG%: Jeremy Thomas II (.568), Steve Kelly (.438)
3PT%: Gavin Cote (.441 / 52-118)
ASSISTS: Kelly (4.7)
REBOUNDS: Thomas II (7.5)
STEALS: Kelly (1.5)
BLOCKS: Justice Easter (1.0)
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock returns home to host Indiana University (Pa.) 3 p.m. Saturday at Morrow Field House. The Crimson Hawks earned a 77-64 victory over The Rock earlier in the season at IUP.





 
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