LOCK HAVEN - Too much size, too much talent and too much experience. Those three factors led to yet another loss for the winless and young Lock Haven Bald Eagles as they dropped a 72-59 verdict to Slippery Rock in a PSAC West encounter Wednesday night at Thomas Field House.
"The guys are battling and playing hard," said Lock Haven coach Mike Nestor. "There are some possessions that we take off that really hurt us and where we are, we can't afford to take any off. We have to play forty straight minutes as hard as we can."
The Bald Eagles (0-20, 0-17)?trailed by 15 with six minutes left in the opening half. Putting together a couple of good offensive possessions, LHU cut the deficit to a dozen before The Rock (14-7, 11-6)?closed out the half strong to lead by 15 at the break.
"I thought size was a big factor and they just scored at will," said Nestor. "We couldn't get stops and they got a lot of offensive rebounds. I thought we did a much better job in the second half of just trying to sustain and pick up a few extra points. They are really good and there was a time where they could have really poured it on, but he (SRU head coach Kevin Reynolds) took some guys out and put some other guys in earlier than he might normally do. Moves like that show the respect the coaches in this league have for each other."
The Bald Eagles cut their deficit to 11 points with nine minutes left before The Rock pulled away.
The size factor was evident in rebounding as Slippery Rock held a 22-7 edge off the glass in the first twenty minutes before stretching it to 41-21 at the end of the game.
"They are the biggest team in the league," said Nestor. "Their three, four and five men are the biggest in the league and they play hard and they play well. They are an experienced team that is 11-6 in the league and they just lost a buzzer-beater to IUP. They can beat any team in the league on any given night. They lost some games early in the league that I know they wouldn't be losing now."
If there was a positive in the game for Lock Haven other than hustling to the final buzzer, it was in the area of protecting the ball. For the game, the Bald Eagles only committed seven turnovers.
As for what lies ahead for the Bald Eagles, they are continuing to work hard to make themselves better players and more competitive.
"All we keep telling the guys is to keep fighting," Nestor said. "We aren't just looking at it for this year. These guys deserve to get a win and hopefully we can get one for them because they absolutely deserve it."
Slippery Rock (14-7, 11-6 PSAC)
Jon Valeriano 6-11 0-0 17; Chaquille Pratt 6-10 0-0 12; Luis Santos 5-9 2-4 12; John Bayardelle 4-6 1-1 10; Tabari Perry 3-7 0-0 8; Devin Taylor 4-6 0-0 8; Torrance Timothy 1-4 0-0 3; Aubin Reeves 0-3 2-2 2; Brett Young 0-1 0-0 0; John Bossle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 5-7 72.
Lock Haven (0-20, 0-17 PSAC)
Armandi Marshall 7-14 3-4 17; Anthony Baker 4-9 5-5 13; Andre Rivers 4-10 2-6 10; Julian Bond 2-5 4-4 8; Muhammad Amin 2-4 1-3 5; Lucas Mosca 2-2 0-1 4; Nate Walters 0-1 2-3 2; Terrell Johnson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 17-26 59.
Halftime-Slippery Rock 44-29 3-Point goals-Slippery Rock 9 (Valeriano 5-9, Perry 2-6, Timothy 1-4, Bayardelle 1-3, Reeves 0-1, Bossle 0-1, Pratt 0-1), Lock Haven 0 (Baker 0-1, Rivers 0-1, Bond 0-2, Johnson 0-2). Rebounds-Slippery Rock 41 (Santos 9), Lock haven 21 (Rivers, Baker 5). Assists-Slippery Rock 15 (Valeriano 4), Lock Haven 5 (Baker 2). Fouled Out-None. Total Fouls-Slippery Rock 20, Lock Haven 7. A-273.
