The Rock Lock Up Home Playoff Game

Rock men lock up home playoff game with 73-69 win at Seton Hill


GREENSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team assured itself of a home Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference postseason tournament home game with a 73-69 win Saturday afternoon over hosting Western Division rival Seton Hill University.

The win improved The Rock’s season record to 19-8 overall and 10-5 in PSAC-West action and guaranteed the Green and White no worse than a fourth-place finish in the division standings.

If The Rock, who host nationally-ranked (Pa.) in the regular-season finale Wednesday (8 p.m. tipoff) in Morrow Field House, remain in the No. 4 spot, they will host Seton Hill in a first-round postseason game March 1.

Should The Rock finish third in the division standings, they would host either Pitt-Johnstown or California (Pa.) in first-round action. The latter two teams are currently tied for sixth place and the final PSAC-West postseason berth.

With the loss Saturday, Seton Hill dropped to 15-10 overall and 7-8 in division action. The Griffins are assured of a fifth-place finish in the division standings.

Maurice Lewis-Briggs

Senior point guard Josh Martin scored a team-high 23 points, one point shy of his season-high mark, to lead The Rock’s winning effort Saturday. Senior center Maurice Lewis-Briggs added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, redshirt junior guard Antonio Butler contributed 15 points and senior swingman Tabari Perry added eight points and five rebounds.

Tabari Perry

Butler scored on a layup with 0:37 left to play to put The Rock up by a 70-68 score and came back on the next possession to hit a pair of free throws to ultimately ice the win.

Malachi Leonard scored a game-high 25 points and snared five rebounds to lead Seton Hill’s attack, while Max Kenyi added 12 points and six rebounds.

Leonard entered the game as the PSAC’s top rebounder with a 9.1 per game average and was tied with Lewis-Briggs for seventh place among conference scorers with a 17.0 points per game average.

The Rock made 24 of 51 (48%) shots from the field and four of eight attempts from 3-point range.

The winning margin came from the foul line, where SRU sank 21 of 27 (78%) shots.

Seton Hill made 29 of 56 (52%) of its field goal attempts with a 4-for-14 (29%) efficiency from long range. The Griffins made seven of nine (78%) free throws.

SRU enjoyed a 33-23 rebounding advantage, but was on the high end of a 14-12 turnover comparison.

The Rock trailed by three points (32-29) at halftime and did not take their lead until the 18:45 mark in the second half when a pair of free throws by Lewis-Briggs put the Green and White on top by a 35-34 score.

Three lead changes later, The Rock scored eight unanswered points to take a 49-43 lead with 13:15 left to play.

The Rock had a nine-point, 57-48, lead with 11 minutes left, only to see Seton Hill go on a 14-4 run to take a short-lived 62-61 lead at the 4:20 mark.

The lead changed hands four times in the next two-plus minutes before a Lewis-Briggs free throw knotted the count at 68-68 with 1:41 remaining.

Butler’s layup with 0:37 left gave The Rock a 70-68 lead and opened a 5-1 Rock run down the stretch to ice the win.

Notes: The Rock are one win away from reaching the 20-win mark for the second consecutive season, the fourth time in six campaigns under current head coach Kevin Reynolds and only the seventh in school history … Wednesday’s game will be White Out Night and also men’s basketball Senior Night at Morrow Field House. The Rock’s four seniors (Lewis-Briggs, Martin, Perry and guard Sa’Quan Davis) will be honored prior to the opening tipoff. Special White Out Night t-shirts are on sale at the SGA Bookstore in the Robert M. Smith Student Center for $5. White Out Night is co-sponsored by the Bookstore and The Grove apartment complex … The Rock’s first-round PSAC tournament game will tipoff at 7 p.m. March 1, according to Paul Lueken, SRU’s director of athletics.

Bob McComas
Sports Information Director
Slippery Rock University
1 Morrow Way - Room 201 Old Main
Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057
Office: 724.738.2777
Fax: 724.738.4761
Cell: 724.421.5658
Email: robert.mccomas@sru.edu
www.sru.edu

A ROCK SOLID Education

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

SRU Beats Pitt Johnstown

SRU men's basketball team records 66-56 win at Pitt-Johnstown

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Senior forward Tabari Perry recorded a 19-point, 13-rebound “double-double” Saturday afternoon to lead Slippery Rock University to a 66-56 win over hosting Pitt-Johnstown in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men’s basketball action at the Sports Center.

The win improved SRU’s season records to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in division action while Pitt-Johnstown saw its season records fall to 5-3, 2-2 with the loss.

SRU has a quick turnaround for its next game as the Green and White host Penn State New Kensington in a 7 p.m. game Monday in Morrow Field House before taking a seven-day break for fall-semester final exams.

Perry, who recorded his second double-double of the season, was one of three Rock players to finish Saturday’s game with a double-digit scoring total. Senior guard Sa’Quan Davis added 12 points and five assists to the winning cause, while junior forward Kelvin Dixon contributed 11 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Josh Martin also handed out five assists for SRU.

Bill Luther took game-high scoring honors with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Pitt-Johnstown, while Jake LaRavie added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Behind the lead of Perry and Dixon, The Rock held a 41-38 rebounding advantage to offset a 10-8 turnover comparison that saw SRU on the high side.

The Rock finished with game with a respectable 42% (23 of 55) shooting percentage on their field-goal attempts with an 8-for-20 (40%) showing from 3-point range. The Rock made 12  of 20 (60%) free throws.

Pitt-Johnstown made 30% (16 of 54) of its field-goal tries, hit seven of 22 (31%) long-range shots and sank 17 of 21 (81%) free throws.

The teams traded scoring spurts throughout the opening half of action, which ended with the teams deadlocked at 29-29. The stalemate at the intermission was the second in the opening 20 minutes, during which the lead changed hands on six occasions.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the first half as The Rock made only 38% (11 of 29) of their shots and Pitt-Johnstown hit an even colder 32% (8 of 25).

The Rock made five of 10 shots from 3-point range, but were an icy 2-of-7 (29%) from the foul line, compared to Pitt-Johnstown’s 36% (4 of 11) effort from 3-point range and red-hot 9-of-10 showing from the charity stripe.

Both teams grabbed 20 rebounds and took good care of the basketball, as evidenced by six turnovers for SRU and four for UP-J.

The Rock opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 39-31 lead with 16:30 left to play and held an 11-point, 50-39, lead with 12 minutes remaining.

Three and a half minutes later, The Rock lead was only four points, 50-46, as SRU’s shooting touch went ice cold. Just as quickly, though, The Rock responded with seven unanswered points to put the margin back to 11 points, 57-46.

Luther, who scored 12 of the Mountain Cats’ 29 first-half points, kept the hosts in the game early in the second half as he scored their first eight final-half points.

The Rock never led by less than seven points in the final eight and a half minutes of action and held their largest lead of the game, a 12-point, 62-50, advantage with 2:44 remaining.

Bob McComas
Sports Information Director
Slippery Rock University
1 Morrow Way - Room 201 Old Main
Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057
Office: 724.738.2777
Fax: 724.738.4761
Cell: 724.421.5658
Email: robert.mccomas@sru.edu
www.sru.edu

A ROCK SOLID Education

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

SRU's Brooks to Play Pro in Argentina

Rock's Gerald Brooks signs contract to play professionally in Argentina

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Former Slippery Rock University men’s basketball standout Gerald Brooks has signed a professional contract to play for Club Atlético Barrio Parque in the Argentinian Professional League, Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds announced Wednesday.

Brooks will report to the club’s home facility in Cordoba, Argentina, Monday to prepare for the upcoming season, according to Reynolds.

“We are very excited for Gerald and happy to see his unselfishness and hard work rewarded,” Reynolds said. “He certainly made a huge impact in our program.”

“We are equally proud he earned his degree from SRU last summer," Reynolds said.

Last winter, in his only season with The Rock, Brooks averaged 12.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in 25 minutes of playing time per game last winter.

The first player off Reynolds’ bench, Brooks helped lead SRU to a 23-9 overall record, a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference runner-up finish and its second NCAA Division II postseason berth in the last three seasons.

Prior to joining The Rock, Brooks was a three-time All-PSAC-Western Division performer at Indiana (Pa.). Brooks was the division’s Rookie of the Year and earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman and was named to first-team honors in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

Brooks finished his four-year collegiate career with 1,416 points and 766 rebounds.

A native of Pittsburgh and graduate of Schenley High School, Brooks was the fourth member of The Rock’s 2012-13 team to sign a professional contract. Devin Taylor and Darious Clark both inked deals with leagues in Luxembourg, while Luiz Santos signed a pact with a Brazilian team.

Brooks is the 10th Rock player to sign a professional contract in Reynolds’ five seasons as the Green and White’s head coach.

That list also includes Jabril Bailey (Premier Basketball League, now in APBL with Bay Area Shuckers), Kyle Camper (Germany), Michael Evans, Jr. (National Basketball League of Canada), Erroll Robinson (American Basketball Association Dallas Impact), Denell Stephens (Luxembourg's Total League) and Joe Vines (Taiwan Pro League).

Camper, Evans and Stephens were mainstays on The Rock's PSAC semifinal team in 2008-09, Reynolds' rookie season as The Rock's head coach. Bailey, Vines and Taylor helped lead SRU to a conference runner-up finish and NCAA tournament berth in the 2010-11 season before Brooks, Clark, Santos and Taylor led the 2012-13 team to arguably the best season in school history. The 2012-13 Rock equaled the school record for single-season wins and recorded the program’s first-ever opening-round NCAA tournament win with an upset of 16th-ranked Winston-Salem State.

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Bob McComas
Sports Information Director
Slippery Rock University
1 Morrow Way - Room 201 Old Main
Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057
Office: 724.738.2777
Fax: 724.738.4761
Cell: 724.421.5658
Email: robert.mccomas@sru.edu
www.sru.edu

A ROCK SOLID Education

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Luiz Santos Signs Pro Contract

Former Rock standout Luiz Santos signs professional contract

Luiz Santos, who signed with Liga Sorocaba in the Brazilian Professional League, will be the third member of last winter's NCAA Division II playoff-qualifying Rock men's basketball team to play on the next level

8/11/2013

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Former Slippery Rock University men's basketball standout Luiz Santos has signed a contract to play professionally in his home country of Brazil, Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds announced Sunday.


The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division "Defensive Player of the Year" last winter, Santos is scheduled to report Monday and begin a career with Liga Sorocaba in the Brazilian Professional League, Reynolds said.

"We are excited for and proud of Luiz," Reynolds said. "We are happy to see his play rewarded, and we are proud he earned his degree from SRU this summer."

A 6-foot-10, 230-pound native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Santos averaged 6.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and started all 32 games last winter for The Rock's NCAA Division II playoff-qualifying squad.

Santos, who played two seasons at SRU after starting his career at Marshalltown Community College in Iowa, was the third member of last winter's Rock squad to sign a professional contract.

Rock leading scorer and leading rebounder Devin Taylorrp, a forward, signed a contract with the Etzella Ettelbruck Basketball Club in Luxembourg's premier, Total League. Guard Darious Clark signed with BBC Gréngewald Hueschtert in the Luxembourg second league.

This year's pro signees increased to five the number of Rock student-athletes who have gone on to play at the next level in Reynolds' five seasons as SRU's head coach.

Denell Stephens recently signed his fifth contract to play in Luxembourg's Total League, where he is one of the top players. Kyle Camper played one season in Germany after joining Stephens as the mainstays on The Rock's PSAC semifinalist squad in 2008-09, Reynolds' rookie season as head coach.

Bob McComas
Sports Information Director
Slippery Rock University
1 Morrow Way - Room 201 Old Main
Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057
Office: 724.738.2777
Cell: 724.421.5658
Email: robert.mccomas@sru.edu
www.sru.edu

A ROCK SOLID Education

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh