EDINBORO, Pa. - Luke Howes made what turned out to be a game-winning jumper with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to give the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team an 83-81 road victory in its regular-season finale Wednesday at Edinboro.
 
Slippery Rock ends the regular season having won four straight games to improve its record to 15-13 overall and 11-9 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division competition. SRU enters the postseason assured of ending its year, whenever that may be, with a winning record for a seventh consecutive year and the 15th time in the last 16 seasons overall.  
 
With the regular season now complete, Slippery Rock turns its attention to the upcoming PSAC Tournament where SRU is locked in as the fourth seed out of the PSAC West. As the fourth seed The Rock are guaranteed to host an opening round game of the conference tournament 7 p.m. March 3 at Morrow Field House.
 
Slippery Rock's opponent for the game is not yet determined but will be either Seton Hill University or Indiana University (Pa.) depending on the results of Saturday's games for each team as the Griffins and Crimson Hawks are currently tied for fifth place in the PSAC West standings. SHU travels to division leader Gannon while IUP goes to Clarion.
 
Edinboro's record moves to 15-11 overall and 11-8 in PSAC play following the setback. Despite the loss the Fighting Scots could still earn the second seed out of the Western Division, and the first-round PSAC Tournament bye that comes with it, if they defeat California (Pa.) on Saturday.

As the final score indicates, Wednesday's game was a back-and-forth matchup for its full 40-minute duration. Neither team led by more than nine points over the entire night including the final 20:07 of regulation in which there was not a lead greater than two possessions.
 
After a full game of trading baskets and mini runs, The Rock and Fighting Scots found themselves in a 79-79 tie with 51 seconds left to play.
 
Coming out of a Slippery Rock timeout, Day Waters drove the paint and released a floater that first bounced off the back of the rim before falling through and giving SRU an 81-79 advantage at 32.9 seconds showing on the clock.
 
Edinboro's Cenker Evran would draw a foul on the ensuing possession, sending the Fighting Scot center to the foul line for the 11th and 12th times on the night. Evran made both free throws to pull the game even once again with 17.8 seconds remaining.
 
After Evran's second free throw, Howes received the inbounds pass and brought the ball up the court, dribbling the clock down just past the 3-point line to six seconds before making his drive off a crossover of Edinboro defender Steve Kelly, which provided The Rock's point guard with enough separation to rise and hit a go-ahead jumper with 3.7 seconds left to play.
 
Edinboro called a timeout following Howes' clutch shot, but the desperation inbounds pass out of the break was off target as the loose ball was fittingly enough tracked down by Howes, who dribbled out the clock to finish off The Rock's two-point victory.  

Howes closed the game scoring 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with four assists, two steals and four rebounds. Howes' four assists give him 170 in a Rock uniform, the 24th-highest total in program history and three behind Dan Heiman (1991-94) for 22nd place.
 
Waters and Maceo Austin both eclipsed the 20-point threshold with Austin turning in a quality 25-point, five-rebound, two-assist night and Waters continuing his string of great offensive production with 21 points thanks in no small part to a 3-for-4 effort from long range. The duo combined to shoot 19-for-28 from the field.
 
Jomo Goings battled through foul trouble to still play 32 minutes and turn in 11 points, four rebounds, one block and one steal. Goings' last basket of the game pushed the redshirt junior guard past Curt Williams (1984-88) and into 20th place on The Rock's all-time scoring list with 1,087 points.
 
Rounding out SRU's top performers were Michael Moore and Ike Herster. Moore, the reigning PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week blocked one shot and compiled a career-best four steals while Herster came off the bench to score eight points.

SRU earned its road win by producing its best shooting performance in the last two years as The Rock connected on 61.7 percent (37-of-60) of their field goal attempts. Before Wednesday, the last time Slippery Rock shot over 60 percent from the field was against California on Jan. 7, 2023 (.633 / 38-of-60).
 
SRU countered a 4-of-13 showing from 3-point range by hitting on 33 of its 47 two-point field goal attempts – 25 of which were made inside resulting in a near season-high 50 points in the paint. Slippery Rock also committed just eight turnovers. SRU has made just 10.5 turnovers per game over its last 11 contests, down from 16.7 per game in its first 17 outings of the year.
 
Edinboro shot well overall, making 47.7 percent (31-of-65) of its field goal attempts in addition to benefitting from 14 made foul shots to SRU's five and holding a +13 (38-25) rebounding margin.
 
However, the Fighting Scots, which entered the night leading the PSAC in 3-pointers made per game (10.6), shot just 5-for-21 from 3-point range and missed its final five attempts from distance. Evran tallied a 31-point, 16-rebound double-double in the loss.
 
Slippery Rock will know its first-round PSAC Tournament opponent Saturday evening. If SRU draws Seton Hill it will mark the second consecutive season in which The Rock and Griffins will play in the postseason: Slippery Rock beat SHU in the first round last season. An opening-round game against Indiana would be the first postseason meeting between the two rivals since the 2015 NCAA Tournament.  




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