Boxscore
ERIE, Pa. -- Senior forward
Denell Stephens and senior point guard
Kyle Camper both recorded a "double-double" Wednesday night to lead The Rock to a 68-53 win over nationally ranked Mercyhurst on the Lakers' home court in the opening game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division season.
"This is a great win for us," first-year Rock head coach
Kevin Reynolds said afterwards. "And it was a total team win. All 14 guys played a role in this win."
The Rock will look to build on the win Saturday when they host division rival Edinboro in a 3 p.m. game in Morrow Field House.
Stephens had game-high totals of 20 points and 18 rebounds Wednesday night to chalk up his team-best ninth "double-double" of the season, while Camper (pictured above) scored 10 points, handed out 12 assists and grabbed six rebounds.
The duo paced a Rock attack that saw four players finish with double-digit scoring totals. Junior guards
Maurice Douglas and
Michael Evans Jr. chipped in 18 and 16 points, respectively.
The win was SRU's second straight and improved the Green and White's season record to 10-4, the most wins by a Rock men's team since the 1999-2000 squad won 17 games en route to a berth in the PSAC championship game.
Mercyhurst, which was ranked 21st in last week's National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II national poll and received votes in this year's poll, lost for the second time in its last three outings and fell to 12-2 overall.
The Rock finished the game with a 40.7% (24 of 59) efficiency from the field that included a 10-of-27 (37%) effort from 3-point range and a 10-of-12 (83.3%) success rate at the foul line.
SRU also dominated the backboards to the tune of a 41-27 rebounding margin. Each team committed 12 turnovers.
Mercyhurst shot 34.7% (17 of 49) from the field, 47.6% (10 of 21) from 3-point range and 64.3% (9 of 14) from the foul line.
The hosts scored the first five points of the game before SRU roared back with a 9-3 run to take its first lead of the game at the 15:30 mark of the first half.
SRU remained in the lead for most of the remaining time in the first half and held a nine-point, 25-16, advantage with seven minutes left. Mercyhurst then went on a 12-2 run to take a 28-27 edge with 1:45 left before the intermission before Douglas buried a 3-pointer to send The Rock into halftime with a 30-28 lead.
The teams traded baskets and leads during the first seven minutes of the final period before SRU took the lead for good at 39-38 with 12:45 left to play.
A 12-2 Rock run in the next four-plus minutes expanded the Green and White's lead to 11 points, 51-40, with 7:30 left to play. Two minutes later, a trey by Stephens gave SRU a 14-point (58-44) advantage that stood as the largest held by either team until Douglas scored on a layup with 16 seconds left to play to give SRU its final 15-point margin.
Notes:
Wednesday's win was the third significant notch added to The Rock's belt this winter. SRU previously claimed a win each over Ashland, which also received votes in this week's NABC national poll, and West Chester, which had a 9-4 record prior to Wednesday night action.
Camper has now handed out 161 assists this winter, which ranks sixth on SRU's single-season chart. He needs only eight to move ahead of Bob McConnell (1990-91) and into fifth place. Camper's assists total is the highest recorded by a Rock player since Brent Schremp dished out a school-record 259 in the 1994-95 season.
Ten wins is the most recorded by a Rock squad under a first-year head coach since Cliff Wettig's squad won 15 in 1973-74.
