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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University never trailed Wednesday night, but had to hold off a gallant Gannon University comeback to record a 69-56 victory in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball action in Morrow Field House.
The Rock scored the first nine points of the game and led by 24 points 90 seconds into the second half of action before Gannon came clawing back to trim the deficit to seven points with three minutes left to play.
Senior guard
Aubin Reeves (pictured) was 5-of-5 from the foul line and added an offensive putback and junior swingman
Tabari Perry added a 2-for-2 effort at the foul line in the final three minutes of action to lead a 9-3 closing run by The Rock.
With the win, The Rock assumed sole possession of second place in the PSAC-West standings and set up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle Saturday (7:30 p.m.) in Indiana, Pa.
SRU takes a 14-4 overall record and an 11-3 PSAC mark into Indiana for their battle with the three-time defending division champion and No. 8-ranked Crimson Hawks, who lead the division with a 12-2 conference record (16-2 overall).
A win Saturday, in addition to moving The Rock back into a tie with Indiana for first place in the division standings, would clinch a third consecutive conference playoff berth for the Green and White.
SRU has not made three or more consecutive trips to the PSAC tournament since 1987-91.
The Rock assured itself of a fifth consecutive winning season with Wednesday's victory. SRU, which has now had a winning record in each of
Kevin Reynolds' seasons as head coach, had not had that kind of success since 1959-64.
Gannon, which entered Wednesday's game tied with The Rock for second place in the division standings, lost for only the fourth time in 20 games this winter and fell to 10-4 in conference games.
Senior guard
Darious Clark led The Rock attack Wednesday night with 18 points and seven rebounds. Perry added 12 points and six rebounds, senior forward
Gerald Brooks chipped in 10 points and six rebounds and Reeves and junior guard
Sa'Quan Davis each contributed seven points to the winning effort.
Darrell Blanton recorded a 17-point, 10-rebound “double-double” to lead Gannon. Oscar Macias added 11 points and Robert Wilson scored 10 points.
The Rock made 52% (13-of-25) of their field-goal attempts in the first half of action en route to a 37-18 lead on the scoreboard at the intermission and finished the game with a 46% (22-of-48) efficiency.
The Green and White hit five of 12 (42%) shots from 3-point range and recorded their second-best free throw shooting percentage of the season with an 87% (20 of 23) reading.
SRU also outrebounded Gannon by a 39-26 margin, marking the 17th time in 18 games this winter The Rock ruled the backboards. On the negative side, The Rock committed 21 turnovers.
Gannon shot an icy 21% (5 of 24) from the field in the first half before warming up to a 46% effort in the second half to finish the game with a 35% (18 of 52) reading.
The Golden Knights were 7 of 16 (44%) from 3-point range and made a lukewarm 62% (13 of 21) of their free throws. Gannon committed 14 turnovers.
The Rock led by 10 points, 22-12, with 8:30 left in the first half before they went on a 13-3 run to take a 20-point (35-15) lead with 90 seconds left before halftime.
The hosts opened the second half with a 5-0 run to push the advantage to 24 points, 42-18, with 18:30 remaining in the game.
Gannon trimmed the difference to seven points, 60-53, with 90 seconds left before Reeves led The Rock on the closing run to ice The Rock win.
Following their trip to Indiana, The Rock will play three of their next four games at home, where they own a 50-15 (77%) record under Reynolds.
