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ERIE, Pa. – Mercyhurst University rode a big-play offense to a 31-7 halftime lead Saturday, then held off a Slippery Rock University comeback to record a 38-23 win in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division football action at Tullio Field.

The loss, SRU's fourth straight and fifth in the last five trips to Erie, evened The Rock's overall record at 2-2 and its PSAC-West record at 1-1.

Mercyhurst improved to 3-1 overall, 2-0 in division action.

The Rock returns to action next Saturday, when they will host Kutztown University in a 6 p.m. game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. That will be a rematch of the 2011 PSAC Championship Game won by KU, 21-14.

Prior to the game, the 29th class will be inducted into the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame.

Mercyhurst finished Saturday's game with a 438-369 total yardage advantage after having a 333-161 advantage at halftime.

The Lakers had 254 rushing yards and 184 passing yards, while The Rock had 252 rushing yards and 117 passing yards.

Brandon Brown-Dukes rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns to lead the winning attack. Allen Jones II added 102 rushing yards and two TDs, Paris Bruner caught four passes for 114 yards and Anthony Vendemia completed seven of 11 passes for 143 yards and one TD.

For The Rock, senior running back Akeem Satterfield rushed for 90 yards on 16 carries, redshirt freshman running back Brett Crenshaw added 59 yards on only three carries and true freshman Jaimire Dutrieuille had 56 yards on eight carries and scored one TD. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jared Buck (pictured) completed 13 of 27 passes for 117 yards and rushed for 42 yards on 11 carries and scored two TDs.

Gannon sacked Buck four times for -21 yards, while junior linebacker Quindell Dean took Vendemia down twice for -15 yards.

Junior linebacker Gary Allen recorded a team-high 12 tackles for SRU. Dean had 11 tackles and forced one fumble and defensive backs Marquis Knight and Austin Miele each recorded eight tackles.

Both offenses sputtered on their first possessions of the game before The Rock had a chance to take the early lead but squandered it.

Buck broke containment and had a wide-open path down the sidelines to the end zone on a third-and-one play from the SRU 39-yard line, but he was unable to keep his balance while tightrope walking the sideline and stepped out of bounds at the Mercyhurst 46. Three pass plays later, two of which fell incomplete, The Rock was forced to punt the ball to the Lakers.

Mercyhurst poured salt in The Rock's wound when it marched 80 yards in six plays on the ensuing drive, keyed by a 51-yard Vendemia-to-Bruner pass completion to The Rock 13. Brown-Dukes converted the drive into points with his first TD run of the game, a one-yard burst with 6:19 left in the first period.

The Lakers got the ball back two plays later when, after catching a flair pass from Buck, Rock junior slot receiver LaQuinn Stephens-Howling fumbled the football at the SRU 22.

Mercyhurst needed only three plays to convert that golden opportunity into points and a 14-0 advantage with 4:34 left in the opening stanza. Vendemia hit Devyn Woods for a nine-yard TD to cap the drive.

SRU moved to the Mercyhurst 38 on its next possession, but again had to punt the ball away.

Mercyhurst promptly marched 80 yards in five plays, highlighted by a 41-yard Vendemia-to-Brunner pass play, to make the score 21-0 with 0:41 left in the first period. Jones sprinted 14 yards to the end zone for the TD.

The Rock quickly answered that scoring drive with one of its own as they went 75 yards in six plays, capped off by the first of Buck's TD runs, a one-yard burst, to make it a 21-7 game with 13:00 left in the second quarter.

SRU had a chance to hold onto the momentum of the first play following the kickoff, but Rock junior cornerback Anthony Saunders was unable to hold onto a potential interception at midfield.

Four plays later, the Lakers were back in the end zone and held a 28-7 lead with 11:01 left before halftime. Brown-Dukes set up his own five-yard TD run with a 59-yard sprint one play earlier.

Neither offense did anything of note in the next four and a half minutes before Mercyhurst chewed up the final 6:30 of the first half with a 15-play, 55-yard drive that culminated in a 32-yard field goal by Steven Wakefield on the final play before intermission.

Mercyhurst had the ball to start the second half and proceeded to eat up eight minutes of time on 11 plays before punting the football to The Rock.

The Rock offense moved 32 yards to the Mercyhurst 48 on their first possession of the second half, but was forced to punt the ball back to the Lakers. The hosts responded with their third 80-yard scoring drive of the game, this one involving six plays, to take a 38-7 lead with 1:38 left in the third period. Jones II capped the drive with his second TD of the game, a three-yard run.

With their collective backs to the proverbial wall, The Rock battled back to make it a game.

SRU marched 81 yards in nine plays to make it a 38-14 game with 13:07 left to play. Buck sprinted seven yards to the end zone to cap the drive.

The Rock defense fed off the momentum gained by the Green and White offense and forced Mercyhurst to go three-and-out on the ensuing drive.

Buck then engineered a six-play, 67-yard scoring drive that brought the margin down to 38-21 with 8:39 remaining in the game.

Another Rock-solid defensive stand forced the Lakers to attempt to punt the ball from their end zone, but a bad snap from center instead resulted in a safety and two Rock points.

Now trailing by a 38-23 margin with 6:27 remaining, The Rock had a golden opportunity to trim the margin even more. But, after gaining possession at the Mercyhurst 43, SRU's offense generated only 13 yards in the next four plays and turned the ball over on downs.

Three plays later, The Rock attack had the ball back at its own 39. Buck moved SRU to the Mercyhurst 41 where, as was the case on the previous Rock possession, a fourth-down pass fell incomplete and gave the ball back to the hosts.

With SRU out of timeouts, Mercyhurst then took a knee twice to run out the remaining 1:23 and ring down the final curtain on the action.

Notes:

With a 3-for-3 effort Saturday, Rock senior kicking specialist Kurt Brackman extended his current string of successful extra-point kicks to 44. He is a perfect 20-for-20 this fall after hitting his last 24 attempts in 2011. The Rock school record is 65 consecutive makes by C.J. Bahr (2007-09) … Brackman has booted 52 PATs in his four-year career, which is the No. 8 total in school history … Satterfield moved ahead of Scott Opalsky (1987-90) into 10th place on SRU's career rushing chart Saturday. Satterfield's career total is now 2575, which is 34 yards shy of the ninth-best total compiled by Ed O'Reilly (1973-75) … Satterfield  remained sixth in career TDs (33) and eighth in career points (198) … Saturday's loss was the fifth in five games played in Erie against either Mercyhurst or Gannon since those teams joined the PSAC in 2008. The last Rock win in Erie was a 17-14 triumph over Gannon in Week 2 of the 2002 season.