Box Score
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team got career-high performances from Devin Taylor and Jon Valeriano and shot 55.8 percent from the floor en route to defeating California University (Pa.), 86-68, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division game Wednesday night at Morrow Field House.

Both teams entered Wednesday's game locked in a four-way tie for third-place in the PSAC-West standings, but it was Slippery Rock that emerged with the win to claim third-place in the standings. After Wednesday's action, Mercyhurst remained atop the standings at 5-0, followed by Indiana at 4-1 and Slippery Rock at 3-2.

The Rock (13-6, 3-2 PSAC) trailed by eight points early in the game before taking the lead late in the first half and never relinquishing it.

Taylor topped all scorers in the game with 26 points, while also grabbing five rebounds, blocking two shots and recording three steals. Taylor was 10-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc.

Valeriano topped his previous career-best with a 15-point effort, accompanied by five assists and two steals.

Maron Brown added 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Jabril Bailey chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds to cap the double-figure scorers. Rashiid Coleman added eight points off the bench.

SRU finished the game shooting 55.8 percent from the field, the second-best shooting performance of the season. The Rock connected on 29-of-52 attempts, including 8-of-17 from the 3-point arc. Slippery Rock was 20-for-28 at the free throw line.

Perhaps the best stat of the night that swung in Slippery Rock's favor was the assist to turnover ratio, with The Rock handing out 21 assists and turning the ball over just 13 times. California turned the ball over 20 times and had 16 assists.

The Vulcans were led by Steve Swiech with 17 points, while Joe Berenato added 13 and Rashawd Hatten chipped in 10.

Cal shot 42.1 percent for the game, hitting 24-of-57 attempts from the field, including 7-of-17 from the 3-point arc. The visitors connected on 13-of-20 attempts from the charity stripe.

The Vulcans opened the game with a 14-6 run to take an eight-point lead six minutes into play. Cal maintained that six-point edge until 10:13 left in the first half, when SRU cut the deficit to four at 19-15. Those points sparked a 9-0 run that ended with a 22-19 lead for The Rock when Valeriano knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:16 left before the break.

Slippery Rock never relinquished the lead from there, pushing out to a 34-28 lead at halftime.

Cal cut the lead down to three points at 39-36 early in the second half before a Rock rally pushed the lead back up to 46-37 with 14:09 to play.

The visitors again chipped away at the margin, narrowing the deficit to five points at 49-44 with 11:36 to play, but Slippery Rock answered, this time with a 6-0 run to open up the first double-digit advantage of the game for either team, 55-44, halfway through the final half.

On three occasions over the next four minutes, Cal cut the lead to nine points, but SRU answered each time to keep the double digit lead. The Rock pushed its lead out to a game-high 20 points down the stretch and cruised to the win.

Wednesday's win snapped a two-game losing streak to California after the Vulcans swept the season series between the two teams last year.

The Rock will continue PSAC-West play Saturday with a 3 p.m. tip at Edinboro.