Jomo Goings’ first game back at his home court for SRU men’s basketball ended in an 84-59 loss against Gannon University on Wednesday.
The senior guard, having been gone since Jan. 18, came back to Morrow Field House and led the charge for The Rock by scoring 14 points. Alongside Goings, Maceo Austin accrued 14 points of his own during his first game back since Jan. 11.
Goings was quick to knock down his first two points with a jump shot within the first minute of the first half. That basket marked 1,000 points scored in his collegiate career.
The Golden Knights were quick to retaliate with a three-pointer by Justin Debuck.
After a three-pointer miss from SRU, Gannon delivered a layup securing their jump.
A defensive rebound from Day Waters set Austin up perfectly for a layup, The Rock fighting for the lead.
Gannon shot a three-pointer before Goings put up a layup. A foul on Gannon’s Mason Kemp gave Goings another scoring opportunity with a successful free throw, keeping the score a tight 8-7.
The Fighting Knights made 11 more points before SRU could add points to the board with a layup from Waters followed by a free throw from Austin.
Gannon continued their roll, going into the half 49-24.
A dunk by Gannon’s Tasman Goodrick opened the second half, followed by a layup. Gannon pulled out two more points before SRU made a layup of their own.
After an assist from Austin, Moore scored on a dunk, adding two more points to the board for The White and Green.
At under five minutes into the second half, SRU and Gannon took turns making baskets, with a three-pointer and a layup coming from The Rock and two layups coming from the Golden Knights. Gannon still had the jump with 66-36 at 14:50 left in the game.
At 10:20 remaining, Sheick Samoura delivered another dunk for The Rock.
The redshirt sophomore racked up a total of 203 points his freshman season and 131 in the current season so far.
Tasman and Samoura were not the only ones to pull out a dunk during the game. Gannon scored four more points and SRU nine before Austin added two more with a dunk of his own just shy of six minutes left.
Samoura made a jump shot for The White and Green while Layne Sarver made a layup for GU.
A foul on Gannon gave SRU two free throws but the half ended in a layup from Gannon.
Slippery Rock men’s basketball will go on to face the University of Pittsburgh as Johnstown at the Sports Center and Wellness Center at Johnstown on Saturday.
