Turnovers continued to plague the Slippery Rock men’s basketball team over the weekend as the team earned a split in its two-day Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover. The team now sits at 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference.
On Saturday, The Rock ended its two-game losing streak, prevailing at home over Mansfield University 80-72. Senior center Cornelius Brown recorded his third double-double of the season scoring 11 points and grabbing 14 total rebounds. Senior guard Malcolm Richardson led SRU in scoring with 21 points. Richardson only shot 5-16 (31.3%) from the field but converted on all 10 of his free throw attempts. Junior guard Maxx Rynd provided a spark off the bench that the team had been missing all season, shooting 5-9 from beyond the arch in route to scoring 18 points. Senior guard Jamal Gatali also had a nice game with 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists and four blocks.
Mansfield was paced by senior guard Thomas Moore, who led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed nine boards.
The Rock was inefficient from the field, shooting only 25-66 (37.9%). However, the team had 29 fouls called on them and made 22 of its 35 free throw attempts. SRU also handily out-rebounded Mansfield 55-31. Despite coming away with the win, Slippery Rock still turned the ball over 15 times, which led to 15 Mansfield points.
On Sunday, Lock Haven University came to town and pushed SRU to the limit in a back-and-forth contest that came down to the final shot. Lock Haven won 74-70 in a game that featured nine lead changes.
Brown excelled once again, recording his fourth double-double on the season and his third in a row. Brown shot 5-11 (45.5%) for 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Gatali had his best game of the season, shooting 7-11 (63.6%) from the field and 5-8 (62.5%) from three-point range for 19 points to lead the team.
The Rock bench struggled in this game, being outscored by the Lock Haven bench 28-12. Lock Haven also scored 11 points off of 12 SRU turnovers.
The team will hit the road looking to overcome its early season struggles when The Rock travels to our nation’s capital to play the University of D.C. Tuesday afternoon.
