Valeriano bolsters Rock
SLIPPERY ROCK — It took Slippery Rock University junior point guard Jon Valeriano almost 38 minutes to attempt his first shot.
But Valeriano's impact wasn't measured in points. It was measured in the little things as The Rock grabbed a 91-81 men's basketball win from Clarion at Morrow Field House Wednesday.
Small and skinny at 5-feet-10 and 160 pounds, Valeriano played at his biggest when SRU needed him the most.
“Jon has been very good for us the last two to three weeks,” said Rock coach Kevin Reynolds. “He's played the way we expected him to play. It was another very good game for him.”
With The Rock (11-4 overall, 1-0 in the PSAC West) nursing a seven-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the game, Valeriano hit a big 3-pointer on his first shot attempt of the night.
Down the stretch, he hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line and had 10 assists to only two turnovers for his second straight double-double.
Clarion (9-3, 0-1) entered the season picked to finish second in the conference behind Indiana (Pa.) University. SRU was picked to finish fifth.
But The Rock seized control of a tight game with an 11-0 run to start the second half, turning a six-point advantage into a 17-point lead.
Senior guard Rashiid Coleman keyed that run with eight of his 18 points.
“Coleman played well, and we got our normal production from Jabril (Bailey), Devin (Taylor) and Maron (Brown),” Reynolds said. “It was a good team effort.”
Bailey finished with a team-high 19 points. Taylor added 18 and Brown 17 for The Rock.
Lloyd Harrison led Clarion, which came into the game as the highest scoring team in the PSAC, with 26 points. But the Golden Knights have lost three in a row following a 9-0 start.
SRU limited Clarion to a 43 percent shooting from the floor.
“This team was shooting 52 (percent) going in and we held them to 43 (percent),” Reynolds said. “We thought we did a pretty good job defending them.”
Things won't get any easier for SRU, which plays at IUP Saturday night.
<B>Clarion 61, SRU 48</B>First-year Rock coach Tanya Longo didn't pull any punches after watching her team fall at home.“Unfortunately, I do feel like this is part of the growing process, certainly not a part that I like or can accept,” Longo said. “Absolutely, we took a step backwards today and that is very disappointing.”The Rock (2-11, 0-1) had been playing better recently, picking up a 59-43 win over Mansfield Sunday.But despite holding the Golden Eagles to a 24-percent shooting in the first half, SRU trailed 20-19.Things didn't get much better in the second half. The Rock did claw its way back even with Clarion (4-9, 1-0) at 41-41 midway through the second half, but the Golden Knights went on a 9-0 run to put the game away.Slippery Rock had just one player score in double digits and committed 24 turnovers — 13 in the first half.“We were so inconsistent on the offensive end tonight,” Longo said. “Thirteen turnovers in one half just isn't going to cut it.”Raven Jones sparked Clarion in the second half, scoring 20 of her game-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes.Danielle Smith scored 10 points to lead The Rock, which shuffled the starting lineup once again.Longo said the starting five would be fluid all season.“We've switched lineups a lot of times this season, I can't even tell you how many,” Longo said. “I look at who is the best five to start this particular game. It's a process. That's where we are at.”<B>MenCLARION 81</B>Bud Teer 6-11 2-2 14, Paul McQueen 4-12 3-4 13, Lloyd Harrison 9-17 5-11 26, Jamar Harrison 8-15 2-3 19, Mike Sherry 1-6 0-0 3, Mike Nealis 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Winbush 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Kromka 0-4 0-0 0, Leonard Patterson 0-1 0-0 0, Denzil Dennison 3-5 0-0 6. <B>Totals:</B> 31-72 12-20 81.<B>SRU 91</B>Maron Brown 6-13 4-4 17, Jabril Bailey 7-13 4-5 19, Devin Taylor 7-8 3-3 18, John Bossle 0-1 0-0 0, Jon Valeriano 2-2 7-8 12, Rashiid Coleman 6-10 4-6 18, John Bayardelle 1-2 1-2 3, Torrance Timothy 1-1 0-0 2, Aubin Reeves 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Vines 0-0 0-0 0, Jade Burka 1-3 0-0 2. <B>Totals:</B> 31-54 23-28 91.<B>Halftime score: </B>SRU 38-32<B>3-point goals:</B> Clarion 7 (McQueen 2, L. Harrison 3, J. Harrison, Sherry); SRU 6 (Brown, Bailey, Taylor, Valeriano, Coleman).<B>WomenCLARION 61</B>Courtney Healy 0-2 1-2 1, Ann Deibert 2-8 2-2 5, Raven Jones 10-18 0-0 22, Emma Fickel 3-13 0-0 9, Mackenzie Clark 3-10 0-0 7, Joanna Catalano 1-2 0-0 2, Lauren Savulchak 5-10 4-5 14, Miranda Payne 0-1 0-0 0, Jennifer Linkchorst 0-0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 24-64 7-9 61.<B>SRU 48</B>Emilee Vitez 3-6 0-0 6, Danielle Smith 4-8 2-3 10, Marlynda Harland 4-12 0-0 8, Sherita Stanley 3-12 2-3 8, Shannon Lee 2-4 2-2 6, Katelyn Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Bethany Caudill 1-2 0-0 3, Grace Palucis 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Beatty 2-5 2-4 7. <B>Totals:</B> 19-51 8-12 48.<B>Halftime score: </B>Clarion 20-19<B>3-point goals:</B> Clarion 6 (Jones 2, Fickel 3, Clark); SRU 2 (Caudill, Beatty).
