SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Senior Devin Taylor scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds Wednesday night to lead hosting Slippery Rock University to a wire-to-wire, 57-51 win over California (Pa.) in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball action in Morrow Field House.

The win was the fourth consecutive recorded by The Rock (16-7 overall, 13-6 PSAC) and moved the Green and White one step closer to their second straight trip to the PSAC's postseason tournament and third in Kevin Reynolds' four seasons as SRU's head coach.

With the win, The Rock remained alone in third place in the PSAC-West standings and took a two-game lead over both California (14-11 overall, 11-8 PSAC) and Clarion (15-10 overall, 11-8 PSAC) with three games remaining on the regular-season schedule.

Junior Aubin Reeves scored 10 points to complement Taylor's scoring effort, while junior Tabari Perry grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to lead SRU to a 50-38 advantage on the backboards. Junior Luiz Santos added six points and eight rebounds.

Steve Swiech led California with 19 points and nine rebounds. Doug Appiah added 16 points and five rebounds.

Neither team shot the ball very well as The Rock finished with a 33% (21-63) effort from the floor, while California shot 31% (16-52). SRU made two of 12 (17%) shots from beyond the 3-point arc, compared to a 3-for-14 (21%) showing by the guests. The Rock sank 13 of 20 (65%) free throws and California made 16 of 26 (62%).

SRU outscored its guests by a 22-8 margin in second-chance points on the strength of 20 offensive rebounds.

The Rock scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back. They held a 14-point, 32-18, lead with two minutes left in the first half and took a nine-point, 32-23, advantage into the intermission.

A 10-3 Rock run to open the second half of action pushed the margin to 16 points, 42-26, with 14:45 left to play and the hosts held a 13-point, 48-35, lead with 6:45 remaining.

SRU failed to score a point in the next six-plus minutes, though, and California clawed back to within four points, 50-46, with 1:20 left to play before The Rock was able to slam the door on the comeback effort.

SRU will look to lock up a conference playoff berth Saturday when they travel to division-leading and 17th-ranked Indiana U. of Pa. for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Conference standings -- IUP (19-4 overall, 16-3 PSAC) leads the PSAC-West by two games over second-place Mercyhurst (16-7 overall, 14-5 PSAC). The Rock is one game behind Mercyhurst. California and Clarion are deadlocked for fourth place, followed by Gannon (12-11 overall, 10-9 PSAC), Edinboro (11-12 overall, 9-10 PSAC) and Lock Haven (0-22 overall, 0-19 PSAC). The top four teams in the division standings at the end of regular-season competition next Saturday, Feb. 25, will earn berths in the conference tournament. SRU earned PSAC runner-up honors last winter after advancing to the conference semifinals in 2008-09, Reynolds' first season as head coach.

Home court advantage -- The Rock, who close out the regular-season schedule with home games vs. Gannon and Clarion following Saturday's trip to Indiana, are now 10-3 in home games this winter and 42-11 (.792) in home games under Reynolds.

Double-digit wins -- This winter marked the fourth consecutive season in which The Rock recorded 10 or more wins. The last time SRU had four straight double-digit-win seasons in succession was 1987-93.

Winning season -- The Rock have also assured themselves of a fourth consecutive winning season, a feat not accomplished at SRU since 1971-75.

On pace -- The Rock's 16-7 record after 23 games this winter matches its mark at this point in the 2008-09 season, when they advanced to the conference semifinals, and is one win shy of last year's record, when the Green and White played in the conference championship game.

Hitting the boards -- SRU has now outrebounded the opposition in 20 of 23 games this winter.