Final statistics
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Hosting East Stroudsburg University parlayed a red-hot shooting effort into a 73-58 victory over Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's basketball “crossover” action Monday night.
The Warriors (6-3) finished the game with a 55% (29-53) efficiency on their action shots.
The Rock (7-4), meanwhile, saw its modest three-game win streak come to an end due in a large part to a 36% (21-59) shooting effort from the field in the game.
SRU will look to bounce back Tuesday night when it travels to Kutztown for the second of four PSAC interdivision games on this winter's schedule. The Rock closes out the series with home games Saturday and Sunday against Bloomsburg and Mansfield, respectively.
Senior guard
Jabril Bailey scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out five assists to lead The Rock effort Monday night, while junior forward
Devin Taylor added 14 points and six rebounds.
Senior forward
Maron Brown, who entered the game with a team-best 16.8 points per game average, was held to nine points, all of which came in the second half of action, but grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
East Stroudsburg rode a 59% (17-29) shooting effort from the floor and a run of 12 unanswered points in the span of four minutes to an 11-point, 39-28, advantage at the end of the first half of action.
Taylor, with 12 first-half points, singlehandedly generated almost half of The Rock's opening-period offense. He also grabbed four rebounds. Sophomore guard
Aubin Reeves chipped in six points, while Bailey had five points, four assists and three rebounds. Brown had six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
The Rock held a 12-6 lead with 13 minutes left in the half before the Warriors went on their run and took an 18-12 lead with nine minutes left.
SRU cut the margin to four points on three occasions in the next three minutes but was unable to erase the deficit.
A 10-4 ESU spurt in the final four minutes of the stanza gave the hosts their 11-point halftime advantage.
While ESU was scorching the nets, SRU was hitting a mediocre 37% (11-30) of its field-goal attempts. The Rock connected on three of five 3-point shots and three of six free throws in the opening 20 minutes.
East Stroudsburg made only one of five long-range shots in the first half and sank four of eight free throws.
Each team grabbed 18 first-half rebounds, while The Rock had one more turnover than their hosts, 13-12. The Warriors recorded nine steals and four blocked shots in the opening half, compared to SRU's five steals and one rejection.
The Rock never got closer than nine points in the second half as East Stroudsburg used a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 17 points (51-34) with 15:30 left in the game and enjoyed its largest lead of the game, a 23-point (71-48) advantage, with 5:30 remaining.
SRU finished the game with a 43% (3-7) efficiency from beyond the 3-point arc and made 13 of 20 (65%) free throws, compared to ESU's 31% (4-13) showing from long range and 69% (11-16) reading at the charity stripe.
Behind Brown's lead, The Rock enjoyed a 38-32 rebounding advantage but were also on the high side of a 21-20 turnover comparison.
East Stroudsburg rejected seven Rock shots and had 11 steals, while SRU swatted three shots and also had 11 steals.