SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead Saturday afternoon and never looked back en route to a decisive 85-57 win over visiting Edinboro University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball action in Morrow Field House.

The win was SRU's sixth in the last seven games and improved the Green and White's season records to 11-5 overall and 8-4 in conference competition.

The win, coupled with Clarion's 81-63 loss at Gannon, moved SRU into a tie with Clarion (12-6, 8-4) for third place in the PSAC-West standings.

The Rock travels to Gannon (9-7, 7-5) for a 7:30 p.m. game Wednesday.

SRU then returns home to host division-leading and 10th-ranked Indiana, Pa. (13-3, 10-2) next Saturday (3 p.m. tipoff) in a rematch of last year's PSAC championship game, which IUP won.

Indiana's division lead was trimmed to only one game when Mercyhurst (11-5, 9-3) clipped the Crimson Hawks, 71-47, Saturday in Erie.

Edinboro, which entered Saturday's game tied with The Rock for fourth place in the PSAC-West standings, saw its season records fall to 9-7 overall, 7-5 in conference action.

At the conclusion of action Saturday, Indiana sat atop the division standings with Mercyhurst in second place and The Rock and Clarion tied for third place. California, Pa. (10-8, 7-5), Gannon and Edinboro are tied for fifth place and Lock Haven (0-15, 0-11) resides in the division cellar.

Junior guard Aubin Reeves led The Rock attack Saturday with 20 points while junior forward Tabari Perry and senior guard Devin Taylor each added 14 points.

Taylor also grabbed 11 rebounds to record his team-best eighth “double-double” of the season. He tied with teammate Luiz Santos, a junior center, for game-high honors in rebounds. Perry pulled down eight rebounds and senior point guard Jon Valeriano had nine points and four assists.

Cory Somerville led Edinboro with 19 points and five rebounds, Bryan Theriot added 13 points and five rebounds and Sam Moore contributed 10 points.

The Rock, three days after having a frigid shooting effort in a last-second win at California, made 48% (31-65) of their action shots Saturday and buried eight of 22 (36%) shots from beyond the 3-point arc. The Green and White also made a very respectable 83% (15-18) from the foul line.

SRU, behind the lead of Perry, Santos and Taylor, outrebounded the Fighting Scots by a 47-27 margin. The Rock entered the game ranked first in the PSAC and second among all NCAA Division II teams with a +13.1 rebounding margin per game. Taylor, meanwhile, ranked first in the conference and fourth nationally in rebounds per game with an 11.5 average.

Edinboro shot 30% (16-53) from the floor, 19% (3-16) from 3-point range and 85% (22-26) from the foul line. Each team committed only seven turnovers.

Reeves and Taylor each scored three points as part of The Rock's eight-point run in the opening two minutes of action.

Edinboro never trimmed the margin to less than six points the remainder of the first half and twice trailed by as many as 19 points, the second time being a 50-31 margin at halftime.

The Rock's largest lead of the game was a 31-point, 85-54 difference with 30 seconds left to play.

Notes:

The Rock now owns a 40-10 record in home games played under the direction of fourth-year head coach Kevin Reynolds … The Green and White are 8-2 in home games this winter … Reynolds now owns a 68-36 record as The Rock's head coach ... The Rock have now won four straight games and five of seven games played vs. Edinboro, which is coached by Greg Walcavich and under whom Reynolds served as an assistant coach in the 1995-96 season … Saturday's “double-double” was Taylor's fifth in the last eight games … Taylor has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 12 of The Rock's first 16 games and had nine boards in two of the other games … With their double-digit scoring efforts Saturday, Reeves and Taylor moved into a tie with Valeriano for the team lead. They have each scored 10 or more points in nine games this winter … The Rock's 11-5 record after 16 games this winter matches its win total at this point one year ago, when they advanced to the PSAC title game and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, and one win better than at this point in the 2008-09 season, when they advanced to the PSAC semifinals … The Rock has recorded 10 or more wins in all four of Reynolds' four season as head coach. Prior to now, SRU had not had four straight seasons with 10 or more wins since 1993-94, the final year in a seven-season string of double-digit win totals. Prior to the 1987-93 run, The Rock had not strung together four or more double-digit-win seasons since a six-season span from 1969-75.