The Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team’s 12-game win streak came to an end at the hands of the Gannon University on Wednesday.
It was not The Rock’s night as Gannon put up its performance of the season, while the Green and White had its worst offensive effort of the season, shooting less than 30 percent in the first half. The perfect storm of missed chances and a desperate opponent resulted in an 82-74 loss.
Gannon entered the game with one of the worst offensive attacks in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), barely averaging over 60 points per game and shooting a mediocre 39.0 percent, but the pieces for a signature performance fell into place at the expense of Slippery Rock. The Golden Knights were virtually unstoppable, shooting over 70 percent in the first half. On the contrary, The Rock could not gain any traction, shooting less than 30 percent in the first half.
After 20 minutes of sloppy play, The Rock found themselves in a 40-27 deficit that proved to be too much to overcome. In the second half, the Green and White looked more like the offensive juggernaut that owned the fourth longest winning streak in division II basketball. The Rock put up 47 points in the second half and cut the deficit down to as little as 6, but a slew of fouls and mental errors let Gannon escape with a victory.
The loss dropped Slippery Rock to 14-6 overall and 11-2 in conference play, marking the first conference loss for The Rock in nearly two months, the last loss coming against East Stroudsburg University on Dec. 3. After beating the Green and White at home for the third straight time, Gannon’s record improves to 8-12 overall and 6-7 in PSAC play.
The Rock only shot a forgettable 35.7 from the field, only sinking 20 shots from the field for the entire game. The Green and White were off the mark when shooting the three ball as well, as they missed almost twice as many shots as they made from beyond the arc (nine-of-26).
Despite a poor performance in terms of efficiency, The Rock still had four players score in double figures. Micah Till led the Rock squad with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots. John Warren II and Jared Armstrong scored 15 points each and Vinny Lasley contributed 10 points of his own.
The Green and White will look forward to the chance to start another winning streak on Saturday, as they welcome California University (Pa.), to Morrow Field House for a 3 p.m. showdown.
