Victor Olawoye
Joe Mattis
74
Slippery Rock ROCK-M 14-6, 11-2 PSAC
82
Winner Gannon GAN-M 8-12, 6-7 PSAC
Slippery Rock ROCK-M
14-6, 11-2 PSAC
74
Final
82
Gannon GAN-M
8-12, 6-7 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Slippery Rock ROCK-M 27 47 74
Gannon GAN-M 40 42 82

Next Game:

at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

2/2/2019 | 3:00 PM

Fox Sports Radio 1330 AM

Next Game

Full Schedule
Feb. 02 (Sat) / 3:00 PM
at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | David Rung, Director of Athletics Media Relations

Golden Knights Halt Streaking Slippery Rock With Big First Half (Highlights)

THE RUNDOWN
  • Final Score: Gannon 82, Slippery Rock 74
  • Records: Gannon (8-12, 6-7 PSAC) | Slippery Rock (14-6, 11-2 PSAC)
  • Location: Hammermill Center — Erie, Pa.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER  
KEY SEQUENCE
  • With Slippery Rock taking what was a 15-point edge for Gannon early in the second half and rallying to slice it to six with just over seven minutes left to play, Matt Johnson (Chicago, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) canned a 3-pointer after a Rock turnover to halt the run. DeAnte Cisero (Chicago, Ill./Montgomery County (Ky.)) followed with two big plays on back-to-back possessions, hitting a pair of free throws after getting fouled on a rebound and pulling down an offensive board in traffic and going back up for the bucket, to put the Golden Knights up 11 with 4:09 to play on the way to a big victory at home.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Both offenses were on full display in the early portions of the first half as Slippery Rock raced out to a 7-2 lead less than three minutes in. The Golden Knights eventually found their touch with buckets from Kevin Dodds (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) and Daryl Porter (Southfield, Mich./Walled Lake Western) followed by a 3-pointer from Johnson at 15:42 to bring the Golden Knights to within three at 12-9. From there, Gannon used a combination of efficient offense and a stifling defense to open up a double-digit lead in the first 14 minutes of the opening half.
  • Jonathan Harewood (Baldwin, N.Y./St. Anthony's) trimmed the Rock lead to just two at 17-15 with a layup from Dodds. Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) stuck a three, and the Gannon defense took control of the contest by drawing several charges. A bucket from Kofi Mills (London, England/Martin Van Buren (N.Y.)) lifted Gannon to a 20-19 edge at the midway point of the opening half. 
  • Olowaye, who notched 12 points in the opening half, kick-started a frenetic scoring outburst for Gannon with a straightaway three and the foul at 8:59 to push the Golden Knights ahead 24-19. Gannon continued its offensive efficiency the next time down the floor following a Rock turnover with a Kofi Mills (London, England/Martin Van Buren (N.Y.)) and-one off a crisp entry pass from Harewood at 8:22. Mills missed the foul shot, but a lane violation from The Rock gave Gannon the ball back and Cisero found himself open underneath for a lay-up on the right block. It was all part of a rapid 13-0 scoring run that spanned 3:36 in the first half.
  • Porter cashed in on a jumper from the left elbow out of the under-8 media timeout and Harewood drove aggressively for a lay-in at 6:08 as Gannon led 32-19. A timeout from Slippery Rock called at 5:57 attempted to quell a 5:12 scoring drought, and Nolen Gerald ended the scoreless stretch for SRU with a jump shot at the 5:15 mark.
  • Cisero ballooned the Gannon lead back to 10 at 35-25 with a jumper at 3:28, and an Olawoye triple with under 30 seconds remaining in the first half shifted all the momentum in favor of the Golden Knights, who took a 40-27 lead into the intermission.
  • Porter converted layups on the first two possessions of the second half for the Knights, both giving the hosts their largest lead of the night at 15. The Rock twice trimmed it to nine during the first six minutes of the period, but Olawoye buried a 3-pointer at the 13:34 mark to bump it back out to 12 at 51-39.
  • Back-to-back 3-pointers from John Warren II got the SRU offense into a bit of a groove, and they chipped away until five points in 30 seconds from Jared Armstrong suddenly had the guests within six at 60-54 with 7:17 to play.
  • After Cisero got the lead back to double digits, a technical foul on the Rock after a foul handed four free throws coming out of the media timeout, and Johnson and Porter combined to bury all four. There were only four made field goals in the final four minutes of the game as the foul count crept higher, but Gannon hit 13-of-15 free throws during that stretch, including eight of their final 10, to seal it.

 
GAME NOTES
  • Gannon finishes the first half of its PSAC West schedule with a 5-3 mark against in-division foes, including wins against a pair of teams above them in the standings in Slippery Rock and Pitt-Johnstown. The Golden Knights are 6-7 in conference play and sit fifth in the West, just one game out of fourth and one ahead of sixth.
  • The Rock entered Wednesday's game as one of the hottest teams in the country, winners of 12 straight dating back to December. The Gannon win momentarily kept SRU from clinching a postseason spot before January was out, as a Rock win would have locked up a place in the PSAC tournament.
  • Gannon had its best shooting performance since the season opener, connecting on 52.9 percent (27-of-51) from the floor. Its 82 points is the third-most in a game this season.
  • The Knights were also efficient from deep, hitting on 7-of-11 from 3-point range. That 63.6 percentage marks the first time they've topped 60 percent from beyond the arc since hitting 11-of-17 (64.7) against East Stroudsburg early in the 2016-17 season.
  • Daryl Porter (Southfield, Mich./Walled Lake Western) was 8-of-14 from the field for a game-high 22 points, while Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) added 21 points on four 3-pointers and a 7-of-7 night from the free throw line.
  • DeAnte Cisero (Chicago, Ill./Montgomery County (Ky.)) turned in his second straight double-digit scoring effort and his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
  • Gannon saw two players top 20 points in a game for the first time since Jair Green (Williamstown, N.J./Paul VI) and Evan Phoenix (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) each had 21 at Clarion on Jan. 13, 2018.
  • The 54 combined fouls — including 33 in the second half — are the most in a Gannon game since the Knights and Edinboro were whistled for 56 in an overtime game on Dec. 16, 2015.
UP NEXT
  • Gannon kicks off the second half of its PSAC West Saturday, heading to Pitt-Johnstown.
  • The 3 p.m. tip from the Sports Center in Johnstown will feature live video, live stats and live audio.
  • The Golden Knights hold a 24-5 lead in the all-time series against the Mountain Cats, and have won seven straight against the conference foe.
  • UPJ sits at 12-8 (7-6 PSAC) after a 70-58 defeat at PSAC East leader West Chester Wednesday evening.
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Players Mentioned

Jair Green

#21 Jair Green

G
6' 4"
Senior
Interdisciplinary Studies
Evan Phoenix

#2 Evan Phoenix

F
6' 9"
Junior
Marketing
Matt Johnson

#21 Matt Johnson

G
6' 0"
Junior
Sport and Exercise Science
Kofi Mills

#32 Kofi Mills

F
6' 8"
Senior
Communication Arts
Daryl Porter

#0 Daryl Porter

G
6' 2"
Senior
Business Administration
DeAnte Cisero

#33 DeAnte Cisero

F
6' 6"
Junior
Kevin Dodds

#10 Kevin Dodds

F
6' 8"
Freshman
Jonathan Harewood

#1 Jonathan Harewood

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Victor Olawoye

#3 Victor Olawoye

G
6' 2"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jair Green

#21 Jair Green

6' 4"
Senior
Interdisciplinary Studies
G
Evan Phoenix

#2 Evan Phoenix

6' 9"
Junior
Marketing
F
Matt Johnson

#21 Matt Johnson

6' 0"
Junior
Sport and Exercise Science
G
Kofi Mills

#32 Kofi Mills

6' 8"
Senior
Communication Arts
F
Daryl Porter

#0 Daryl Porter

6' 2"
Senior
Business Administration
G
DeAnte Cisero

#33 DeAnte Cisero

6' 6"
Junior
F
Kevin Dodds

#10 Kevin Dodds

6' 8"
Freshman
F
Jonathan Harewood

#1 Jonathan Harewood

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Victor Olawoye

#3 Victor Olawoye

6' 2"
Freshman
G