Boxscore

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Juniors Jabril Bailey and Maron Brown each recorded a “double-double” Saturday afternoon to lead the unbeaten Slippery Rock University men's basketball team to its 10th win of the season, a 96-86 victory over visiting Cheyney in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference ”crossover” action in Morrow Field House.

With the triumph, the Green and White set a school record for wins to open a season. The previous mark was a 9-0 start by the 1963-64 team coached by Hank Baierl.

The win was also The Rock's 18th straight in regular-season action, a string that extends back to Jan. 31, 2009 and one that is three shy of the school record.

SRU has now won 18 of its last 19 games and 20 of its last 22 after having a 10-6 record heading into its Jan. 24, 2009 home game vs. PSAC-Western Division rival Clarion.

The Rock will look to extend its current string of success Sunday when it hosts Shippensburg in a 3 p.m. “crossover” game.

The Green and White then hit the road for back-to-back interdivisional games next weekend at Millersville and 25th-ranked West Chester.

Brown scored a team-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday, while Bailey added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

They were two of four Rock players who finished with double-digit scoring efforts. Senior guards Michael Evans Jr. and Maurice Douglas scored 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Senior guard Andre Tarver had nine points, eight assists and eight rebounds; senior guard Cecil Brown scored nine points and handed out six assists and senior forward Jade Burka added eight points and six rebounds.

Sharif Bray scored a game-high 31 points for Cheyney, which lost for the second straight time and saw its season record fall to 5-3.

The Rock finished the game with a 51% (31-61) efficiency from the field, hit 38% (9-24) of its 3-point attempts and sank 74% (25-34) of its free throws.

Cheyney shot 39% (33-84) from the field, hit 30% (7-23) from beyond the arc and made 72% (13-18) of its free throws.

SRU had a 47-39 rebounding advantage but also had 17 turnovers, compared to only eight for Cheyney.

The Rock played catch-up for most of the opening 20 minutes and trailed by four points, 38-34, at halftime.

Cheyney led throughout the first 10 minutes of action and held a pair of five-point advantages before The Rock was able to even the count at 14-14 with 9:15 left before the intermission.

A layup by Bailey with 7:45 left gave SRU its first lead of the game, an 18-16 edge.

Cheyney responded with a 20-10 run in the next eight minutes to take a 36-28 lead with two minutes left before halftime before The Rock closed out the stanza with a 6-2 run.

The Rock, after missing its first seven long-range shots, ended the first half with a 3-of-12 efficiency from beyond the 3-point arc. Overall, the hosts made 42% (14-33) of their field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes and sank three of five free throws.

Cheyney, on the other hand, shot 40% (15-38) from the field, 4-of-11 (36%) from 3-point range and sank four of six free throws.

The Rock had a 25-19 rebounding advantage but was on the high side of a 9-3 turnover comparison.

Cheyney remained in the lead for the first nine minutes of the second half before a layup by senior guard Bryen Spriggs gave SRU a 55-54 edge with 11 minutes left to play.

A Cheyney 3-pointer on the next possession put the Wolves back on top, 57-55, before The Rock scored five unanswered points and 18 of the next 22 points to take a 73-61 lead with 8:50 remaining.

The Rock led by 10 points, 81-71, with two minutes left and sank 14 of 20 free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

Notes:

Saturday's win was the 31st recorded by second-year Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds and leaves him two wins shy of the school record for wins by a Rock head coach in his first two seasons. Cliff Wettig led The Rock to 33 wins in his only two seasons at SRU (1973-75).