2008 Woodie Awards
Men's basketball loses pair of heartbreakers at home
By Adam Brewer
Rocket Sports Editor
Issue date: 12/9/05 Section: Sports
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The Rock lost to East Stroudsburg by the score of 74-68 on Saturday at the Morrow Field House. The win improves East Stroudsburg's record to 4-1 on the season.
The Rock offense, which has struggled so far this season, came out shooting to open up the game and held an 8-0 lead early in the first half.
East Stroudsburg battled back into the game and captured its first lead, 19-18, with less than 10 minutes left. East Stroudsburg never trailed again and held a 36-33 halftime lead.
As the second half got underway, East Stroudsburg quickly scored six points in the first two minutes. East Stroudsburg's lead was as large as 13 points in the second half. The Rock managed to cut the deficit to four, 65-61, after two free throws by sophomore guard Brandon Thompson. The Rock couldn't get the big shot or the big stop on defense the remainder of the game as the visitors made free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
The Rock went 8-for-20 from the line in the second half and shot 52 percent from the line the whole game. This wasn't normal for the Rock, a team that has shot 71 percent from the line for the season, which is third best in the PSAC.
"It was those little things that hurt us in the loss," coach John Marhefka said. "Our free throw shooting was not good enough even though we had high intensity throughout the game and boxed out for rebounds well. Nailing those free throws is a big part of our offense because we are driving to the basket more and drawing more fouls."
The Rock shot 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from three point range. The Rock committed 23 turnovers and only had ten assists in the game.
East Stroudsburg shot 36 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc and 55 percent from the charity stripe.
The leading scorers for the Rock were freshmen forward Joseph Vines and guard Matt Hale with 15 points each. Vines came off the bench and shot 7-of-12 from the court and grabbed four rebounds. Hale hit four three pointers and made three out of his four free throws.
