Tasman Goodrick vs. SRU
Mike Gallagher
64
Slippery Rock SRU 10-8,6-4 PSAC
90
Winner Gannon Gannon 15-2,10-0 PSAC
Slippery Rock SRU
10-8,6-4 PSAC
64
Final
90
Gannon Gannon
15-2,10-0 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Slippery Rock SRU 31 33 64
Gannon Gannon 40 50 90

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Gannon Enjoys Golden Knight in Return to the Highmark Events Center with 90-64 Win over Slippery Rock

ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team made a triumphant return to its on-campus homecourt on Wednesday night with a 90-64 win over Slippery Rock. The victory was the 15th straight for the Golden Knights, who came into the contest ranked seventh in the D2CSC Div. II Top 25 and 21st in the NABC rankings.
 
Gannon had not played at the Highmark Events Center since Dec. 19, 2023 as the facility underwent extensive renovations. On Wednesday the Golden Knights returned home and thrilled a near-capacity crowd with an impressive display against a Slippery Rock team that had won eight of its last nine games. The victory leaves Gannon at 15-2 overall and 10-0 in the PSAC West. Slippery Rock slipped to 10-8 and 6-4, respectively.
 
Slippery Rock had battled the Golden Knights twice down to the wire a year ago, and a 12-0 run in the first half led to a tight battle over the first 20 minutes. But after using a 30-1 run to end the game to rally past Edinboro on Saturday the Golden Knights were at it again against Slippery Rock.
 
With Gannon clinging to a 30-28 lead late in the half the Golden Knights would pull away to hold a 40-31 advantage at the half.
 
Any comeback hopes for SRU were dashed at the start of the second half as Gannon outscored SRU 29-7 over the first ten minutes of the second half. That would represent Gannon's largest lead of the night as Slippery Rock never got closer than 25 points the rest of the way.
 
Win number 16 in a row likely won't come as easy. The Golden Knights will play their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday at Daemen. The Wildcats are undefeated at 14-0 and ranked second in the country.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Slippery Rock led on two instances by a point before Gannon gained the lead for good at 7-6 on a layup by Pace Prosser (Berlin, Pa./Berlin Brothersvalley). The proceeded to run off 11 straight points shortly after that to go ahead 22-8 nine minutes into the game. Ernest Shelton (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) led the way with a conventional 3point play and a 3-pointer from beyond the arc.
 
The Rock answered the next 12 points and SRU had suddenly pulled to within a basket at 22-20. Mike Montano (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) ended the run with a layup but Gannon still led by a scant two points at 30-28 with 5:27 left in the half. Gannon closed the half on a 10-3 run to lead 40-31 at the half.
 
Gannon opened the second half with the first 13 points with Pace Prosser (Berlin, Pa./Berlin Brothersvalley) and Ernest Shelton (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) capping the burst with back-to-back 3-pointers as Gannon led  53-31. All told the Golden Knights would outscore SRU 29-7 over the opening 10 minutes to take their largest need of the night at 69-38. The lead never grew smaller than 25 points.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Gannon forced Slippery Rock into 27 turnovers and held a massive 32-4 advantage in points off turnovers. That and a 57-39 advantage on the glass more than made up for a 38.6 shooting performance (34-of-88). They did make 11-of-29 3-pointers while going 11-of-19 at the line. That included 28 offensive rebounds.  SRU actually owned a better shooting percentage at 40.4 percent, but mad just 3-of-19 shots from beyond the arc. SRU was 15-of-24 at the line.     
 
Ernest Shelton (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) continued his strong play with his third straight game of 20-or-more points, dropping in 22 points. He made 7-of-14 shots including 5-of-10 on 3 pointers, adding eight rebounds and three steals.
   
Pace Prosser (Berlin, Pa./Berlin Brothersvalley) and Tasman Goodrick (Sydney, Australia/St. Joseph's College) added 15 points apiece, with Prosser contributing four assists. Goodrick, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, finished with his tenth double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. He had 11 offensive boards.
 
Layne Sarver (New Madison, Ohio/Tri-Village) was a fourth Golden Knight in double digits with 10 points. Eleven of 12 Golden Knights who played scored.
 
NEXT FOR THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Gannon travels to Amherst, N.Y. to face Daemen on Saturday, January 18 in the final non-conference game of the season. The Wildcats are 14-0 prior to a game on Thursday. They are ranked as high as second.
 
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