Rock now in playoff picture
SLIPPERY ROCK — Playoffs and Slippery Rock University men's basketball.
For eight years, they didn't belong in the same sentence.
Until now.
The Rock's 73-68 victory over Indiana (Pa.)University Wednesday night at Morrow Fieldhouse vaulted SRU (7-17, 4-5) into a fourth-place tie with IUPin the PSACWest standings with three games left. The top four teams qualify for the PSAC Tournament.
"I don't know if this is the biggest win here for this program in a long time, but I know it's the biggest win in my two years here," SRU coach Jamal Palmer said.
SRU heads to Shippensburg (0-9 in league play)Saturday while IUP(12-12, 4-5) hosts California (8-0 in league play).
The Rock has not been to the postseason since the 1999-2000 season.
"We're in a good spot right now, but we need to go into Shippensburg and win a game that we're supposed to win," Palmer said. "And that's not going to be easy."
SRU started four guards Wednesday night, as 6-foot-6 forward Cory Somerville was ill and not available. Palmer decided to sit freshman forward and Butler graduate Jade Burka in favor of junior guard Jamar Scales.
The result was an 11-0 Rock lead in the first three minutes. SRUnever trailed all night.
"What we needed to do was take advantage of our size at the outset, get a couple of charging calls or grab some rebounds over the back,"IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. "That didn't happen.
"Instead, they jumped out, hit a couple of 3s, were able to spread the floor and we had to adjust to them."
The Rock sank 11 of 19 shots from beyond the arc. Matt Schaefer nailed five treys and Darnell Johnson was perfect on all three of his attempts.
The Crimson Hawks couldn't creep within five points of the lead until only 1:03 remained in the game.
Once IUPgot within 64-59 with 1:03 left, The Rock sank eight of nine free throws down the stretch to clinch the victory. Schaefer sank one of two, Johnson four of four, Scales and Errol Robinson two each.
"Free throws have been a problem for us,"Palmer said. "It was nice to see us knock down those shots.
"I know our overall record isn't great, but we didn't win a league game two years ago and only won two all of last year," he added. "These juniors suffered through all of that. We're showing signs of turning it around."
Women
IUP 71, SRU 59 — The Rock (7-17, 1-8) dropped its seventh straight and was eliminated from playoff contention.Ninth-ranked IUP (23-2, 8-1)won its fifth straight game and had an 11-0 lead before the contest was five minutes old. SRUmissed its first six shots and turned the ball over four times before getting on the scoreboard.
A 10-0 Crimson Hawks run gave them a 55-38 lead with 8:31 to play. The Rock got within 63-57 with 1:19 to go when SRU's Dana Stewart sank a 3-pointer and Haley Gaidosh canned two free throws."The bad start didn't seem to mean much at that point,"Rock coach Laurel Heilman said. "We had a chance to win the game."You have to make plays in the final two minutes and we didn't. This game — our season — has been like an accordion. We'd get within a few points, then over the next three minutes we're out of the game, get within a few points again, etc.," she added."Slippery Rock played pretty well tonight,"IUPcoach Cindy Martin said. "We got lax on defense. To give up 19 points in the first half, then 40 in the second — that shouldn't happen."SRU played without its second-leading scorer, Grove City product Julie Molloy (10.6 ppg), who is the latest player to join Heilman's injury list.Molloy, Nikki Presto, Kara Spagnola and Chere' Marshall all have missed time with injuries, which might account for the fact that The Rock has lost six games by four points or fewer."I think about it every day," Heilman said of the injuries. "We've lost four guards. That catches up with you."We can talk about injuries, close losses, but all that counts is how the final score reads," she added.Busser had 12 points and six assists for SRU. Jahzinga Tracey, last year's PSAC West Player of the Year, led IUPwith 18 points.<B>MenINDIANA (Pa.)68Joe Rocco 2-3 1-2 6, Darryl Webb 2-9 0-0 4, Sean Christiansen 7-12 2-2 17, Gerald Brooks 8-15 3-5 20, Adeniyi Amadou 2-3 5-7 9, Jordan Shaw 2-4 0-0 6, Justin Gartner 2-4 0-0 6, Jude Urda 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Robinson 0-0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 25-50 11-16 68<B>SLIPPERY ROCK 73Darnell Johnson 3-5 6-9 15, Matt Schaefer 5-12 1-3 16, Jamar Scales 5-11 2-2 12, Joseph Vines 5-8 1-3 11, Erroll Robinson 3-6 2-2 9, Rashiid Coleman 1-3 0-0 2, Italy Levy 2-4 0-0 6, Lonnie Perry 0-1 0-0 0, Jade Burka 1-2 0-0 2.</B> Totals: 25-52 12-19 73<B>Halftime: </B>SRU 40-30<B>; 3-point goals:</B> Rocco, Christiansen, Brooks, Shaw 2, Gartner 2; Johnson 3, Schaefer 5, Robinson, Levy 2<B>Saturday:</B> SRUat Shippensburg<B>WomenINDIANA (Pa.)71Kierstin Filla 4-5 0-0 8, Kylie Miller 7-13 0-2 14, Hillary Shope 3-4 6-6 14, Staci Heberling 3-3 2-2 8, Jahzinga Tracey 8-14 1-2 18, Erika Hess 0-0 0-0 0, Laura Canteri 0-0 0-0 0, Eryn Withers 3-5 0-0 7, Tiffany Corle 0-1 0-0 0, Lacey Claar 1-5 0-0 2, Lauren Kukic 0-1 0-0 0, Marcia Mpfumo 0-0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 29-51 9-12 71<B>SLIPPERY ROCK 59Amanda Nero 3-12 0-0 8, Alissa Schake 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Gaidosh 4-8 3-4 11, Sandra Busser 5-9 2-2 12, KellyAnn Staudinger 5-7 0-1 10, Nikki Presto 0-3 0-0 0, Renee Watson 1-2 0-0 2, Dana Stewart 4-7 3-3 12, Nijha McNeely 2-2 0-0 4.</B> Totals: 24-50 8-10 59<B>Halftime: </B>IUP 34-19<B>; 3-point goals:</B> Shope 2, Tracey, Withers; Nero 2, Stewart<B>Saturday:</B> SRU at Shippensburg
