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Boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Senior forward Denell Stephens scored a game-high 30 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to a crucial 72-69 win over visiting Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action in Morrow Field House.

The win improved SRU's season records to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in PSAC-West action. More importantly, the triumph solidified the Green and White's hold on fourth place in the division standings.

The Rock now owns a two-game lead over Mercyhurst (15-6, 3-5) and a game and a half lead over California (Pa.). The latter margin could expand to two full games Saturday night as California takes on division-leading Gannon.

The fourth-place standing is significant since the top four teams in the division standings at the end of regular-season play Feb. 28 will advance to the conference's postseason tournament.

The Rock has not competed in the PSAC tournament since 1999-2000, when the Green and White advanced to the conference finals.

With the win Saturday, The Rock is assured of its first non-losing season since 1999-2000 (17-12).

Saturday's win was The Rock's second this winter over Mercyhurst, the No. 7 team in last week's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional rankings. SRU won a 68-53 decision Jan. 11 at Mercyhurst.

SRU, off to its best start since the 1990-91 team had a 16-5 record after 21 games, was not listed in the top 10 of last week's regional rankings.

Stephens (pictured above), who also had five rebounds and three steals in the game, was one of three Rock player to finish with double-figure scoring totals. Sophomore forward Maron Brown added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds to The Rock effort, while senior point guard Kyle Camper had 12 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

Brian McTear scored a team-high 18 points for Mercyhurst while Jordan Armstrong added 17 points and eight rebounds and Nnamdi Nnadili chipped in 11 points and eight assists.

The Rock finished the game with a solid 47.3% (26 of 55) efficiency in field goa shooting, hit four of 16 shots from 3-point range and sank 16 of 24 (66.7%) free throws.

Mercyhurst shot 37.9% (25 of 66) from the field, hit four of 19 (21.1%) from beyond the arc and sank 15 of 23 (65.2%) from the charity stripe.

The Lakers held a 47-34 advantage in rebounds; each team committed 17 turnovers.

The Rock had to overcome a strong closing kick by the Lakers before it could record the win.

Mercyhurst scored the first four points of the game and remained in the lead for the first five and a half minutes of action before a layup by Brown gave SRU an 11-10 edge with 14:30 left before halftime.

The Rock outscored Mercyhurst by a 21-9 margin in the span of five and a half minutes to turn a10-5 deficit into a 26-14 advantage at the 10-minute mark of the first half.

SRU held a double-digit lead for virtually the entire final 10 minutes of the half and expanded the margin to as many as 17 points on two occasions (38-21 and 44-27) before Mercyhurst cut the gap back to 13, 45-32, at the intermission.

The Rock held a 15-point lead on two occasions in the first two minutes of the second half and was ahead by 10 points (58-48) at the midway mark of the first 20 minutes of action.

Three and a half minutes later, though, the lead was gone as Mercyhurst went on an 11-1 run to take a 59-58 edge with 6:30 left in the game.

Three lead changes later, The Rock regained the lead for good on a jumper by Stephens that put the hosts up, 62-61.

SRU held a six-point, 69-63, lead with one minute left to play before Mercyhurst made its final run and closed the gap to two points, 71-69, with five seconds left. A Camper free throw with :03 left accounted for the final point of the game.

The Rock returns to action Wednesday, when division-leading Gannon (17-2, 6-1) invades Morrow Field House for an 8 p.m. game.

Following that game, the Green and White will play three of their final five regular-season games on the road.

Notes: Stephens' performance Saturday made him a virtual lock for PSAC-Western Division "Player of the Week" honors. He had 30 points and 12 rebounds last Wednesday in a win over California (Pa.) and averaged 29.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two division games during the week ... Camper now has 225 assists this season, whcih ranks third on SRU's single-season chart. He needs eight more assists to move past C. Russell (1990-91) and into second place and 35 to displace Brent Schremp (259 in 1994-95) for the top spot ... Junior guard Michael Evans Jr. ranks sixth on SRU's single-season 3-point shot attempts list with 143 and is 10th in treys delivered with 49 ... Senior wing player Jamar Scales remains 20th in career scoring with 1,051 points. He needs 17 more points to move into 19th place ... The next Rock win, in addition to assuring the Green and White of a winning record this winter, will move Kevin Reynolds into a tie with Cliff Wettig (15-8 in 1973-74) for the most wins by a first-year Rock head coach.