Boxscore

EDINBORO, Pa. -- The Rock outscored hosting division rival Edinboro by a 20-14 margin in overtime Saturday afternoon to secure a 96-87 victory and move one step closer to that elusive berth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament.

The win was SRU's fourth straight and sixth in the last seven outings and improved the Green and White's season records to 16-7 overall, 7-3 in PSAC-Western Division action.

More importantly, the victory moved SRU into a tie with Edinboro (17-6, 7-3) for third place in the PSAC-West standings.

With four games remaining on the regular-season schedule, The Rock and Edinboro enjoy a three-game lead over fifth-place California (Pa.), which lost a 64-62 decision Saturday to Lock Haven.

Thus, The Rock can clinch a PSAC tournament berth with a win Wednesday vs. Lock Haven coupled with a California loss at Indiana.

The top four teams in the division at the end of regular-season play Feb. 28 will advance to the conference tournament.

SRU has not competed in the PSAC tournament since 1999-2000, when the Green and White played in the championship game.

The Rock's winning effort Saturday was a tribute to teamwork, as all five SRU starters scored 14 or more points in the game.

Senior forward Denell Stephens scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the winning attack. Senior point guard Kyle Camper added 18 points and 10 assists, junior shooting guard Michael Evans Jr. also had 18 points, sophomore forward Maron Brown chipped in 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds and junior guard Maurice Douglas contributed 14 points and four assists.

The "double-double" performances were the seventh and fifth of the season for Brown and Camper, respectively. Stephens finished the game one rebound shy of his 13th "double-double."

The Rock trailed for almost the entire first half of action Saturday and found themselves down by five points, 38-33, at the intermission. But the score was tied six times and changed hands seven times in the opening 20 minutes of action.

The score was tied on 10 occasions and the lead changed hands three times in the second 20 minutes before The Rock scored six of the first seven points in overtime to take control of the situation.

SRU's largest lead of the game was an 11-point, 94-83, advantage with one minute left in the overtime period, while Edinboro's largest lead was a seven-point (40-33) difference 30 seconds into the second half of action.

The Rock finished the game with a 48% (36 of 75) efficiency on its field goal attempts that included a 6-of-24 effort from 3-point range. SRU hit 83% (18 of 25) of its free throw attempts and had a 48-46 advantage in rebounds.

Edinboro shot 42% (33 of 78) from the field, 29% (5 of 17) from beyond the arc and67% (19 of 28) from the foul line.

Each team committed 17 turnovers and The Rock was whistled for more fouls, 23-18.

The Rock seeks to move another step closer to locking up a postseason berth when it hosts Lock Haven in an 8 p.m. division game Wednesday in Morrow Field House.

Notes:

Saturday's win marked the second time in four days that SRU knocked off a regionally ranked foe.  Last Wednesday, The Rock beat Gannon, the top team in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional rankings released last Wednesday. Edinboro was the No. 6 team in that regional ranking. The Rock was not ranked among the top 10 in last week's regional ranking.

Kyle Camper has handed out 247 assists this winter, which ranks second on SRU's single-season chart and eighth on the PSAC season list. He needs three assists to move into fifth place on the conference list, 13 to set a school record and move into fourth place on the PSAC list and 27 to set a new conference mark

With the win Saturday, Kevin Reynolds set a new standard for wins by a first-year Rock head coach. Cliff Wettig had the old mark with a 15-8 record in 1973-74.

The nine-win improvement in The Rock's win total from a year ago is the second best in school history, one win behind a 10-game jump from a 6-19 mark in 1980-81 to a 16-10 mark in 1981-82. Dave Rooney was the head coach of both of those squads.

Michael Evans Jr. is now tied with Myron Brown (1989-90) and Bill Johnson (2003-04) for seventh on SRU's single-season 3-point field goals made list with 50. He needs four more treys to move ahead of Myron Brown (53 in 1988-89) and into sole possession of sixth place and five to move ahead of Dennis Green (54 in 1991-92) into fifth place. Mark Metzka holds the school record with 87 in 1994-95. Evans Jr. ranks fifth in single-season 3-point attempts with 152.

Saturday's win was The Rock's first overtime triumph since December 2, 2006, when SRU downed West Chester by a 96-89 margin in Morrow Field House. The Rock had lost four straight overtime games prior to Saturday.