Road Woes

IUP's struggles away from home continue in 75-64 loss at Slippery Rock

SLIPPERY ROCK — The road has not been kind to the IUP Crimson Hawks.

IUP fell to 2-7 in games away from home, losing at Slippery Rock, 75-64, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference basketball game at Morrow Field House on Wednesday night.

“On the road, you need maturity,” IUP coach Joe Lombardi said. “We struggle a lot when we go on the road. Some of it is playing well and some of it is just maturity. You’re going to fail some on the road, and when you fail you need to be able to respond. The guys struggled with confidence and struggled with getting discouraged. That’s a youthful response.”

Slippery Rock, on the hand, improved to 7-5 at home during an injury-plagued season. The Rock played last night without its two leading scorers, Jomo Goings and Maceo Austin, who average a combined 33.5 points per game.

“It’s cliché,” Slippery Rock coach Ian Grady said. “Everyone is like next man up in sports. It’s really cliché, but it’s true. Those guys were going to be out and you try to instill that mentality, that confidence in the other guys, so I didn’t address it at all. It was the next-man-up approach and they stepped up and put it on the court.”

Ike Herster, a 6-foot-6 redshirt junior guard, scored a game-high 22 points, and Day Waters, a 6-4 junior, scored 17, including the first eight for his team in the second half when it wiped out a five-point halftime deficit in quick fashion. Luke Howes, a redshirt junior point guard, chipped in 16 points.

“They seemed to play more cohesive than I’ve seen the play on tape when they have everybody,” Lombardi said. “Sometimes it’s addition by subtraction.

“But it’s a credit to Slippery Rock. They’re go-to guys stepped up and played go-to basketball. Whether it was their point guard, who’s a fourth-year guy, or Ike, who’s a fourth-year guy, or Waters, who’s a third-year guy, they have some guys that have been there and dealt with those situations. And it showed tonight. They were ready for the environment and ready for the moment, and we will be in the future. We weren’t ready for the moment tonight, it’s as simple as that.”

Slippery Rock drew more than 1,700 fans for its annual White Out Night, which always coincides with IUP’s visit. Lombardi didn’t think the large and raucous crowd affected his team, which includes three freshmen in the eight-man rotation.

“We weren’t intimidated,” Lombardi said, “but we broke down a little mentally and emotionally, especially on the offensive end. It’s important that you execute and have a certain belief that you’re going to make certain plays, and we kind of got away from our offense a little bit. We had some good, wide-open shots at times and couldn’t get the ball in the bucket.”

IUP (9-9, 5-6 PSAC) shot a season-low 33.9 percent (21-for-62). The Hawks shot 43 percent (12-for-28) in the first half while taking a five-point lead into halftime and shot 26.6 percent (9-for-34) in the second half. They were 6-for-25 from 3-point range, including 2-for-16 in the second half. IUP committed only eight turnovers.

Slippery Rock (11-7, 7-5) shot 45.2 percent (28-for-62), including 51.7 percent (15-for-29) in the second half. The Rock led the rebounding by one, 42-41, and committed only three of its nine turnovers in the second half.

“Our defense was very good,” Grady said. “We were able to rebound the ball a little better in the second half and get out in transition and play with more pace. Guys made some shots in the second half, and that got the momentum rolling and they got to see the ball go down in the second half and build some confidence.”

IUP used an 11-0 run in the middle stages of the first half to take its largest lead, nine points at 22-13. Slippery Rock forged a tie at 26 before the Hawks took a 36-31 lead into halftime.

The first seven minutes of the second half included eight lead changes and three ties. IUP led 50-49 before the Rock scored six straight points to take the lead for good.

IUP trailed by three, 61-58, with 7½ minutes to go before the Rock scored and kept the margin at three possessions in the final four minutes.

“I told them with about six minutes to go we need to be gritty and win on grit and not skill,” Lombardi said, “but if you’re gritty and the other team is gritty, you’ve got to get some skills plays, too, and we didn’t have enough skill plays to go with the grit we did show.”

IUP’s Christian Moore and Kymani Merraro each scored 15 points but shot a combined 10-for-34 from the field, including 3-for-18 from 3-point range. Damir Brooks scored 13 points and posted a double-double with 12 rebounds, with 10 coming on the offensive end. Ian Harring added eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.

“I’m sure there were some positives,” Lombardi said. “Damir was 9-for-11 on free throws and really competed with 10 offensive rebounds. Ian did a good job with eight rebounds and played well.”

Slippery Rock entered the game with three straight setbacks in conference play, including a 31-point loss at California and a 26-point loss at Gannon. The Rock lost to Clarion by 10 points on Saturday.

Prior to that, Slippery Rock won seven straight following a 2-6 start to the season.

“We’ve been pretty banged up most of the year,” Grady said. “It’s been a season of ups and down We lost a couple close games early and that impacted us a little bit. Then we were able to get rolling and build on that, but we haven’t been playing our best basketball as of late. But I’m proud of the guys. Everyone stepped up and played with heart and fire, and I hope that builds some momentum going into the next round of the PSAC.”

IUP plays host to Clarion on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Hawks are 7-2 at home and expect their largest crowd of the season on their annual Boy Scout Night and with students back on campus following the semester break.

“You’ve got handle that,” Lombardi said. “Where’s our maturity at to handle more people in the crowd? Is that going to create an uncomfortableness? It’s just challenging as a coach to maintain high expectations but also have realistic expectations on where these young men are at. Some of them are 18, 19, and they’re going to be more mature when they’re 22.”

WEDNESDAY’S BOX SCORE
SLIPPERY ROCK 75, IUP 64
IUP (9-9)
Brooks 2-6 9-11 13, Grove 3-5 0-0 6, Merraro 5-15 3-4 15, C.Moore 5-19 4-7 15, Furtun 1-5 0-2 3, Herring 3-6 0-0 8, Pickens 1-3 0-0 2, Triggs 1-3 0-0 2, Totals 21-62 (.339) 16-24 (.667) 64
Slippery Rock (11-7)
Staunch 1-3 0-0 2, Waters 7-15 2-6 17, Herster 8-15 4-6 22, Samoura 3-8 2-5 9, Howes 7-14 1-1 16, Clifford 2-3 2-4 7, M.Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 0-2 2-2 2, Griggs 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 26-62 (.452) 12-19 (.632) 75
Halftime — IUP 36-31. 3-point field goals — IUP 6-25 (Grove 0-2, Merraro 2-7, C.Moore 1-11, Furton 1-3, Herring 2-2), Slippery Rock 7-19 (Waters 2-6, Herster 2-5, Samoura 1-3, Howes 1-2, Clifford 1-2, Griggs 0-1). Rebounds — IUP 41 (Brooks 12), Slippery Rock 42 (Waters 7). Assists — IUP 11 (Furton 3), Slippery Rock 12 (Herster, Howes 3). Turnovers — IUP 8, Slippery Rock 9. Total fouls — IUP 16, Slippery Rock 18. Technical — C.Moore. A — 1,734.
WEDNESDAY’S OTHER PSAC SCORES
Gannon 91, Pitt-Johnstown 83
Seton Hill 79, Edinboro 63
Kutztown 89, Cheyney 64
Lock Haven 106, Shippensburg 98, 2OT
Millersville 92, East Stroudsburg 85
West Chester 80, Mansfield 78
Shepherd 64, Bloomsburg 52
SATURDAY’S PSAC GAMES
Games at 3 p.m.
Clarion at IUP
California at Edinboro
Gannon at Seton Hill
Bloomsburg at West Chester
Cheyney at Shippensburg
Kutztown at Shepherd
Mansfield at East Stroudsburg
Millersville at Lock Haven