Vulcans hammer out wins over The Rock
SLIPPERY ROCK — California (Pa) University coach Bill Brown knows that playing at Slippery Rock University is never easy.
Case in point: last year's near-upset victory by The Rock.
On Wednesday, Brown and his team didn't waste any time, as the Vulcans jumped out to an early 20-4 lead and went on to the 77-64 PSAC West victory.
"Every time we come up to Slippery Rock, it's always a tough game," said Brown. "I thought, defensively, the guys really came to play. Our coaches did a good job scouting them."
The Vulcans (13-4, 4-0) held an 8-4 advantage before scoring 12 unanswered points to take a 20-4 lead, with the final six points coming on three baskets by Julian Logan.
SRU scored eight of the next 10 points, including a 3-pointer by Darnell Johnson and a score by Lonnie Perry, to close out the run and to make it a 10-point game.
After California took a 26-12 lead with 3:57 remaining in the half, The Rock created a 7-0 run, capped by another Johnson trey and a score, to pull the squad to 26-19 with 32 seconds left.
California's James Hairston scored a layup with three seconds left to give the Vulcans a nine-point cushion heading into halftime.
"We had some young guys come in and they gave us some good energy and helped the guys who got a lot of the minutes," said SRU coach Jamal Palmer. "They gave us a good spark."
The biggest problem proved to be stopping Cal's 6-foot-6, 240-pound senior forward-center Alioune Mbaye.
The native of Dakar, Senegal, rang up 29 points on the night on an efficient 10-of-15 from the floor and nine-of-11 from the free throw line.
"We did a good job on their main guys (Ron Banks, Theron Colao, Hairston), but you can't let a player have a big game like that," said Palmer.
The Vulcans opened the second half by scoring the first seven points and built their biggest lead of the night, 57-37, with 8:50 remaining.
The Rock (3-15, 1-4) made one final push, chipping away until they trailed by 11, 65-54, thanks to an 8-0 spurt, with 2:13 remaining, but could pull no closer.
"We'd make one little run, but then they'd have a six-, seven-, eight-point run," said Palmer. It was tough to dig our way out of it."
Mbaye added a team-high 10 rebounds while Logan and Banks added 12 points each. SRU received 20 points from Johnson, including four 3-pointers, and 14 points and 11 rebounds from Joseph Vines.
<b>California 83, SRU 57</B>The Rock trailed 50-41 with more than 12 minutes remaining before the Vulcans (17-2, 4-0) reeled off 15 consecutive points to roll to the PSAC West triumph.California, which stands atop the PSAC West standings, never trailed in the game, using a 10-2 run early to take a 14-4 lead.The Rock (7-12, 1-3) responded with a 10-1 run of its own to trail 15-14 with 11:27 left in the first half.Kelly Ann Staudinger had eight of those points and 12 of the team's 14 at that point. She finished the first half with 14 points.With a basket each from Shaquetta Mance and Brooque Williams and two free throws from Lindsay Johnson, the Vulcans opened a 21-14 advantage.SRU did pull to within five points at 25-20 with 6:58 left before the break, but that was as close as SRU would get."They are the top team in the region, so give them all the credit in the world," said Slippery Rock coach Laurel Heilman. "And they're doing a great job with all the young kids they have."I don't know if we tried too hard or playing with some fear. I can't explain it. We were out of sync, but the trapping, the pressing, that's what it's supposed to do,"Heilman added.Kayla Smith was a big key in the second half for the Vulcans, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the final 20 minutes. Along with Williams, the duo combined for 38 points and 23 rebounds.Johnson added 13 points, Mance 12 and Andrews 10 to lead an efficient, balanced scoring attack.SRU had 17 points from Staudinger and 11 points from Grove City High graduate Julie Molloy, who scored nine of her points over the final 6:46 of the game."Our scouting report was to a 'T,'" said Heilman. "We knew to be successful, we had to rebound in the defensive end, which was something we did not do, and keep them from penetrating from the key."<B>Women's BoxCALIFORNIA (Pa.) 83</B>Lindsay Johnson 5-10 2-2 13, Brooque Williams 9-19 1-2 19, Crystal Andrews 4-9 0-1 10, Amber Dubyak 2-9 1-2 6, Kayla Smith 9-17 1-2 19, Katie Benick 2-3 0-0 4, Shaquetta Mance 6-14 0-0 12. <B>Totals: </B>37-81 5-9 83.<B>SLIPPERYROCK 57</B>Amanda Nero 1-2 2-2 4, Julie Molloy 3-14 5-6 11, Haley Gaidosh 4-10 0-0 8, Sandra Busser 1-6 3-4 5, KellyAnn Staudinger 7-9 3-4 17, Alissa Schake 0-0 0-0 0, Dana Stewart 2-3 0-0 4, Colleen Smith 2-3 2-4 6, Nijha McNeely 1-5 0-3 2.<B> Totals: </B>21-52 15-23 57.<B>Halftime score: </B>California, 36-29;<B> 3-point goals:</B> Andrews 2, Johnson, Dubyak<B>Saturday:</B> Shippensburg at Slippery Rock 1 p.m.<B>Men's BoxCALIFORNIA (Pa) 77</B>Julian Logan 6-14 0-0 12, Ryanard Sawyer 0-0 0-1 0, James Hairston 2-6 3-4 7, Kenny Johnson 0-1 6-6 6, Jesse Brooks 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Berenato 0-1 0-0 0, Anthony Vaughn 0-2 0-0 0, Theron Colao 3-9 1-2 9, Gregory Parker 0-2 2-2 2, Ron Banks 6-9 0-0 12, Alioune Mbaye 10-15 9-11 29. <B>Totals: </B>27-60 21-26 77.<B>SLIPPERYROCK 64</B>Rashiid 1-2 0-0 2, Darnell Johnson 7-11 2-3 20, Matt Schaefer 1-7 0-0 2, Itay Levy 2-2 0-1 5, Jamar Scales 0-1 0-0 0, Cory Summerville 3-3 0-0 6, Joseph Vines 5-11 4-8 14, Lonnie Perry 2-4 0-2 4, Erroll Robinson 2-5 4-4 9, Jade Burka 1-3 0-0 2.<B> Totals:</B> 24-49 10-18 64.<B>Halftime score: </B>California, 28-19; <B>3-point goals:</B> Colao 2; Johnson 4, Levy, Robinson<B>Saturday:</B> Shippensburg at SRU, 3 p.m.
