SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. –  Tabari Perry and Devin Taylor each scored 15 points and Luiz Santos grabbed 14 rebounds Saturday afternoon to lead Slippery Rock University to a 56-48 win over visiting Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball action in Morrow Field House.

The win kept The Rock (12-3 overall, 9-2 PSAC) at least tied for first place in the PSAC-West standings. SRU began the day deadlocked with 16th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) for the top spot. IUP hosted Clarion in a PSAC-West game Saturday night.

Saturday's loss dropped Mercyhurst (11-6, 7-4 PSAC), which began the day tied with Gannon for third place in the division standings, into sole possession of fourth place.

Perry and Taylor tied with Mercyhurst's Luis Leao, who also scored 15 points, for game-high scoring honors. Paul Bilbo scored 12 points for the Lakers. Leao also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Rock trailed on only one occasion (2-0) but, despite holding a 15-point (37-22) lead with 15 minutes left to play, didn't secure the win until the final minute.

Contributing to the anxious moments was a season-low 65% (15-23) effort by The Rock from the foul line.

The hosts, who entered the game with a 78% efficiency from the stripe, made only nine of their first 17 charity tosses before sinking six of six in the final 75 seconds to ultimately lock up the victory.

SRU finished the game with a 31.5% (17-54) efficiency on its field-goal attempts and hit 29% (7-24) of its shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Rock also again outrebounded their foes, 41-35, which marked the 14th time in 15 games this winter the Green and White won the backboard battle.

Both teams committed 14 turnovers. SRU converted Mercyhurst miscues into 13 points, while the Lakers scored 10 points off Rock errors.

Mercyhurst ended the game with a 35% (17-48) reading on its field-goal attempts, hit 13% (2-16) from beyond the arc and made 12 of 18 free throws.

The Rock and Lakers were tied at 13-13 with eight minutes left to play in the first half before the hosts scored 11 of the final 17 points in the period to take a 24-19 lead into the intermission.

SRU then scored 13 of the first 16 second-half points to take the aforementioned 15-point, 37-22, lead with 15:15 left to play in the game.

Mercyhurst regrouped and scored 13 of the next 16 points, though, to trim the deficit to only five points, 40-35, with 10 minutes remaining.

Three and a half minutes later, the Lakers again trailed by a mere five points, 42-37, only to see The Rock run off five unanswered points to take a 10-point lead (47-37) with 5:30 left.

The Lakers made a final run in the last minute of action, when they trimmed the margin to four points (52-48) with 12 seconds left, but Gerald Brooks and Perry each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

SRU returns to action Wednesday, when it will host division rival California (Pa.) in an 8 p.m. game in Morrow Field House.

Notes:

Saturday's win was the 86th recorded by The Rock in Kevin Reynolds' five seasons as head coach (86-44 record) and matched the second-best five-year win total in school history. Bob Barlett-coached Rock teams compiled an 86-58 record from 1986-91. The best five-year period for a Rock men's team was 1987-92, when Barlett led the Green and White to an 89-55 cumulative record … SRU is now two wins away from assuring itself a winning record for the fifth consecutive season. The last time The Rock had that kind of success was 1959-64, when Hank Baierl-coached teams compiled a 74-30 cumulative record … Taylor has now scored 899 points and grabbed 599 rebounds in his three-year Rock career. He ranks 16th on SRU's all-time rebounding chart (18 shy of Kevin Jones' 617 from 1987-91) and is 101 points away from becoming the 22nd Rock men's player to score 1,000 career points … The Rock are 48-15 (.762) in home games under Reynolds' leadership.