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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Senior guard
Darious Clark scored a game-high 18 points, all in the second half of action, to lead hosting Slippery Rock University to a 69-49 win Wednesday night over Clarion University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division men's basketball action in Morrow Field House.
Clark, who also snared seven rebounds, was one of four Rock players to finish the game with a double-digit scoring total.
Junior swingman
Tabari Perry added 12 points and seven rebounds, while senior forward
Gerald Brooks and senior guard
Aubin Reeves each chipped in 11 points. Brooks also collected six rebounds, while Reeves handed out seven assists.
Senior center
Luiz Santos grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, blocked five shots and scored five points for SRU (15-5 overall, 12-4 PSAC) and senior forward
Devin Taylor finished the game with seven points and five rebounds.
Evan Battle had team-high totals of 11 points and six rebounds for Clarion (5-15 overall, 3-13 PSAC), while Leonard Patterson added 10 points.
Wednesday's win, coupled with Gannon's road win at division-leading Indiana (Pa.), moved The Rock one game behind IUP (17-3, 13-3) in the PSAC-West standings.
The Rock, who are assured of their third consecutive trip to the conference's postseason tournament, share the No. 2 spot in this year's division standings with Gannon (18-4, 12-4).
SRU visits Gannon for the regular-season finale Feb. 27, four days after hosting Indiana in the teams' second meeting of the season.
In Wednesday's game, Clark (pictured) was one of The Rock's five starting players but did not attempt a shot in five minutes of first-half action. He came out strong in the second half, though, as he buried seven of 10 shots from the floor, including a 4-of-6 showing from 3-point range, in 13 minutes of court time.
Clark scored The Rock's first nine second-half points and had all 18 of his points in a 29-9 Rock run that pushed a six-point (33-27) halftime lead into a 26-point (62-36) advantage at the 8:30 mark of the second half.
The Rock and Clarion battled on even terms for the first five and half minutes of action before SRU scored 11 unanswered points to take a 23-12 lead with 10:15 left in the first half.
Clarion came back with a 15-3 run of its own in the next six minutes, though, to take a 27-26 lead with four minutes left in the half.
SRU closed out the half with a 7-0 run and, behind Clark's lead, scored 13 of the first 15 second-half points to pretty much put the win on ice.
The Rock held its largest lead of the game, a 69-40 advantage, with four minutes left to play before Clarion scored nine unanswered points to set the final margin.
SRU finished the game with a 41% (26 of 63) efficiency on its field-goal attempts, hit seven of 15 (47%) shot from beyond the 3-point arc and sank 10 of 14 (71%) free throws.
The hosts also held a 49-37 rebounding advantage, which marked the 19th time in 20 games this winter SRU had ruled the backboards, and also blocked eight shots.
Clarion shot 27% (17 of 62) from the field, 23% (5 of 22) from long range and 77% (10 of 13) from the foul line.
Both teams committed 10 turnovers.
SRU hits the road for its next game, a 3 p.m. date Saturday with Mercyhurst University (13-9, 9-7) in Erie, before hosting Lock Haven (5-14, 3-13) and Edinboro (13-7, 9-7) in back-to-back games Feb. 13 and 16, respectively.
Notes:
With the win Wednesday, The Rock now own a 51-15 (77%) record in home games under fifth-year head coach
Kevin Reynolds … Santos, who stands 6-foot-10, blocked 15 shots in three career games vs. Clarion … Taylor needs 44 points to become the 22nd player in Rock men's basketball history to score 1,000 career points … Taylor has grabbed 639 rebounds in his three-year Rock career and is four caroms shy of 14th place on SRU's all-time leaders list.
