The Game Stories
} Edinboro clinched a berth in the PSAC Tournament with an 82-72 win over Lock Haven last Saturday, and now seeks to capture at least a home game in the first round.  The third and fourth seeds will host first round games on March 2.  Edinboro gained a huge tiebreaker advantage with Wednesday's 67-64 upset at 17th-ranked Gannon.  The Fighting Scots now own wins over both Gannon and Slippery Rock.  The Gannon victory was Edinboro's second straight and fifth in the last six games, leaving the Fighting Scots in fourth place in the Western Division at 11-7, one game ahead of Mercyhurst.  Edinboro is 15-7 overall, the most wins since the 2008-09 squad won 18 games.

} This marks the second of a very challenging three-game stretch of road games against the top three teams in the PSAC West.  After playing at Gannon on Wednesday and at Slippery Rock on Saturday, the Scots head to Indiana(Pa.) on February 20.  Those three teams have a combined record of 54-14.  Edinboro then ends the regular season with back-to-back home games against Clarion and Mercyhurst.

} Edinboro has qualified for the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2008-09.  The three-year drought had been the longest in Greg Walcavich's 24-year tenure as head coach.  

} The Gannon win marked the third game back for Bryan Theriot.  The 6'9” junior jad missed the previous five games with a knee injury before returning against California(Pa.).  While still not 100 percent, he recorded his ninth double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

} Edinboro won the first meeting at McComb Fieldhouse on January 26, 62-59, rallying from an 11-point second-half deficit.  Johnathan Logan's 3-pointer with 29 seconds left gave the Fighting Scots the lead, and Isaiah Prince capped a 28-point effort with a pair of free throws with three seconds to play to clinch the win.    The victory snapped a five-game losing streak to Slippery Rock.

} Head coach Greg Walcavich is in his 24th season in charge of the Fighting Scots, showing a 427-248 record.  Including stints at Birmingham Southern and West Virginia Wesleyan he is 581-311 overall as he is in his 31st season as a head coach. 

} Slippery Rock comes in with a 16-6 overall ledger and has a 13-5 record in league play.  The Rock has only been able to split its last six games, a stretch which began with the first meeting at Edinboro.

} Edinboro was picked to finish fourth in the PSAC?West.  Slippery Rock, meanwhile, was picked to finish second in the Western Division coaches poll and received three first-place votes.

Scouting Slippery Rock
} Slippery Rock is led by former Edinboro assistant coach Kevin Reynolds, who has returned The Rock to a position of prominance in the PSAC.  SRU was picked to finish second in the PSAC?West preseason coaches poll, and is currently tied with Gannon for second place at 13-5.  The Rock is 16-6 overall following Wednesday's 94-76 win over Lock Haven.   After running off eight wins in nine contests Slippery Rock has been in a lose one, win one scenario over the last six games.  Reynolds has plenty of weapons, beginning with Devin Taylor.  The 6'6” senior ranks second in the PSAC in rebounding (10.0 rpg.) after leading the conference a year ago.  The former transfer from LaRoche and a first team All-PSAC?West pick last year adds 13.9 ppg.  In fact, SRU comes in as the top ranked rebounding squad in the PSAC at +12.6, and has two of the top four individual rebounders.  Gerald Brooks, a 6'5”, 230 lb. senior, pulls down 9.1 rpg. while scoring 12.4 ppg.  The transfer from IUP became eligible after the first semester.  He is a former three-time All-PSAC?performer who scored over 1,100 points and pulled down over 500 rebounds at IUP.  Darious Clark, an Illinois State transfer, is the leading scorer at 13.9 ppg. and is the top 3-point threat with 54 in 146 attempts.  He is a 6'3” senior.  Tabari Perry, a 6'8” junior who was a second team All-PSAC West selection last year, adds 10.8 ppg. and 6.3 rpg.  Luiz Santos doesn't score much (6.0 ppg.), but the 6'10” senior is a force on the glass with 6.3 rpg. in just 22 minutes.  Aubin Reeves leads the team in assists (74) and steals (25) while scoring 7.0 ppg.  SRU ranks first in the PSAC in field goal percentage defense at 36.7 percent.      

The Edinboro-Slippery Rock Series

} Edinboro leads 86-76
This marks the 163rd meeting between Edinboro and Slippery Rock.  Edinboro snapped a five-game losing streak to The Rock with a 62-59 win at McComb Fieldhouse on January 26. SRU is 6-3 vs. Edinboro since Kevin Reynolds took over as head coach.  Fighting Scots' head coach Greg Walcavich is 31-16 against The Rock.
 
The Last Meeting

} January 26, 2013 --  Edinboro 62, Slippery Rock 59 
The Fighting Scots rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half and won despite some anxious moments at the end.  Trailing by nine points at 54-45 with 5:11 to play, Xavier Churnac scored his lone basket of the game to cut it to seven points.  Jamal Bailey's layup cut it to 54-49, and a Jay Fletcher steal led to an Isaiah Prince basket to make it 54-51.  Slippery Rock's Devin Taylor scored to boost the lead back to five points with 3:40 left, but the Fighting Scots were not to be denied this time.  Will Marrow's basket cut it to three, and after Slippery Rock missed five shots, the Scots tied it at 56-56 on a Prince jumper and free throw with 1:02 left.  Aubin Reeves hit one of two free throws to give the lead back to The Rock, and it appeared SRU might leave McComb Fieldhouse with a narrow win when Edinboro turned the ball over.  Fletcher responded with a steal and fed Johnathan Logan, who's three-pointer from the top of the key gave Edinboro a 59-57 lead with 29 seconds to play.  Eleven seconds later Prince blocked Darious Clark's three-point attempt and Jamal Bailey clutched the rebound.  With 11 ticks remaining Fletcher made one of two free throws to give Edinboro a 60-57 lead.  Reeves' two free throws with five second to play made it 60-59, but Prince sank a pair of free throws, the last points in a 28-point outing, with three seconds to play.  SRU inbounded to Reeves, who was hounded by Prince and heaved a three-quarter length of the floor attempt that was nowhere close.   Prince made 5 of 15 3-pointers and added five rebounds.  He was the lone Fighting Scot in double figures.  However, Fletcher, while struggling with his shot after scoring 57 points the previous two games, contributed the game-deciding steal and assist.  While making just 3 of 14 shots, 1 of 11 from beyond the arc, and 1 of 3 free throws, he ended with eight points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.  Finally, Logan finished with eight points and had a season-high 10 rebounds.  Rebounding, in fact, allowed the Fighting Scots to hang with The Rock.  Slippery Rock came in as the top rebounding team in the PSAC, but managed just a 50-46 advantage.  Edinboro pulled down 17 offensive rebounds.  Bobby Davis, once again replacing leading scorer and rebounder Bryan Theriot, had seven rebounds and three blocked shots.  Jamal Bailey had one of his best games as a Scot with seven points and six rebounds in 16 minutes.  Edinboro shot 35.3 percent from the floor, with almost half of its 68 shots from beyond the arc, as the Boro was 8 of 33 on three's.  A great defensive performance held Slippery Rock to 31.9 percent from the floor.  Both teams committed 13 turnovers, but the Scots scored 17 points off those turnovers compared to 11 for SRU.  Taylor paced SRU with 19 points and 13 rebounds.  Clark and Reeves added 13 points each. 

 
The Coaches

} Greg Walcavich, Edinboro -- is in his 24th season at the helm of the Fighting Scots and his 31st overall as a head coach.  He has a 427-248 record at Edinboro and is 581-311 overall.  Walcavich has also previously served as the head coach at Birmingham Southern and West Virginia Wesleyan. (For an indepth bio see page 10) 

} Kevin Reynoldds, Slippery Rock  -- the former Edinboro assistant coach has resurrected Slippery Rock's basketball fortunes.   Since taking over the program in May 2008 he has led The Rock to PSAC playoff berths three of his first four years after inheriting a program that had not had a winning season since 1999-00.  In his first season he guided SRU to a 21-8 finish.  After the season he was recognized as the PSAC West Coach of the Year.  The Rock finished the 2010-11 season with a record of 21-11. SRU advanced all the way to the finals of the PSAC Tournament and ultimately earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.  

The Last Time Out

} Edinboro 67, Gannon 64 -- The Fighting Scots won at Gannon's Hammermill Center for the third straight year with a come-from-behind 67-64 win over the 17th-ranked Golden Knights on Wednesday.  The game turned out to be as good as its advance billing, as it featured seven lead changes and seven ties.  Gannon held a 30-24 lead at the half.  Edinboro pulled to within 44-42 with 11:08 to play, then went on a 10-0 run in less than two minutes to take its largest lead of the night at 52-44 with 9:23 left.  The Golden Knights came back to eventually take the lead again at 57-56 with 3:58 to play, but the Scots refused to fold in front of the crowd of 1,566.  Theriot's short jumper in the paint gave Edinboro the lead for good 16 seconds later.  Prince nailed another three from the left wing to make it 61-57 with 2:16 to play.  Gannon would turn it over yet again on its next possession.  Will Marrow missed a short jumper, but followed up the miss and banked in the rebound to boost the lead to 63-57.  Gannon closed the gap to four points, but when Johnathan Logan hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night from the left baseline with 49 seconds left, Edinboro held a seemingly safe 66-59 lead.  The Golden Knights had one last gasp left, closing to 66-64 with 14 seconds to play. 
Marrow went to the line and hit one of two free throws for a 67-64 lead.  The Knights would launch a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, but the shot was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.  Edinboro ended with four players in double figures, led by Theriot's 20 markers.  The 6'9” junior made 8 of 12 field goals and was 4 of 5 from the line.  He added 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season.  Logan and Prince added 15 points apiece, with Logan making 5 of 11 3-pointers and Prince 3 of 6.  The senior guard was held to two points in the first half, but he exploded for 13 second-half points.  Marrow enjoyed his finest game of the season.  The redshirt freshman scored a season-high 10 points, and added six rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal in 20 minutes.  Turnovers proved a huge difference, as Edinboro outscored Gannon 21-5 on turnovers.  The Scots committed 10 turnovers, with Gannon turning it over 14 times, nine of those coming in the second half      

} Slippery Rock 94, Lock Haven 76  -- The Rock had little difficulty at home against the Bald Eagles, jumping out to a 48-32 advantage at the half.   Five Slippery Rock players scored in double figures, led by Darious Clark's 19 points.  Gerald Brooks had 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Devin Taylor, John Bayardelle and Sa'Quan Davis all had ten points.  

On the Radio, TV

} WFSE FM?88.9 broadcasts most Edinboro basketball games, including the Slippery Rock game.  In addition, ETV, Edinboro's student-run television station, will stream most home games live.  Go towww.edinboro.tv to view the game.  Live stats are available for home games on Edinboro's website at www.gofightingscots.com.