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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sa'Quan Davis and Tabari Perry each scored 20 points Saturday night to lead Slippery Rock University to an 85-71 win over visiting California (Pa.) in opening-round action of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship in Morrow Field House.

With the win, The Rock, the No. 3 seed from the PSAC's Western Division, advanced to Tuesday's quarterfinal round, in which they will meet second-seeded Gannon on the Golden Knights' home court in Erie.

The Rock (20-7) and Gannon (22-6) split a pair of regular-season meetings this winter with each team winning on its home court, SRU by a 69-56 margin Jan. 30 in Slippery Rock and Gannon by a 75-63 margin last Wednesday in Erie.


In addition to keeping The Rock's season alive, Saturday's win over California made this year's Rock squad the sixth in school history to reach the 20-win mark and the third to do so in Kevin Reynolds' five seasons as the Green and White's head coach.

Davis, who had a season-high scoring night and also handed out a game-high five assists, and Perry, who snared six rebounds, were joined in double-digit scoring by Gerald Brooks, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh “double-double” of the season.

Devin Taylor had nine points and 10 rebounds to finish one point shy of his 12th double-double of the season for SRU, while Luiz Santos chipped in seven points and nine rebounds, Darious Clark added seven points and six rebounds and John Bayardelle also scored seven points.

SRU, the NCAA Division II national leader in rebounding margin with a +13.2 per game average, dominated the backboards Saturday to the tune of a 50-21 advantage.

Keith Lowe scored a game-high 25 points for sixth-seeded California, which finished its season with a 12-15 record, while Jake Jacubec had 14 points and Tynell Fortune added in 12 points.

The Rock finished the game with a 47% (28 of 60) efficiency on its field-goal attempts after hitting 52% (17 of 33) of their shots in the first half of action. SRU hit nine of 18 shots from 3-point range and sank 20 of 25 free throws.

California, meanwhile, shot 39% (22 of 56) from the field, 52% (11 of 21) from 3-point range and 80% (16 of 20) from the foul line.

The guests won the turnover battle by a 15-9 margin, but only had a 13-10 edge in points off turnovers.

The Rock held a 28-12 advantage in points “in the paint,” outscored California by a 20-6 margin on second-chance points and behind Brooks and Davis had a 38-16 cushion in scoring “off the bench.”

California stayed with The Rock for most of the first half of action and trailed by only two points, 29-27, with 5:45 left before The Rock went on a 16-2 run en route to a 45-34 halftime advantage.

The Rock scored 10 unanswered points in a span of three minutes midway through the second half of action to take their largest lead of the game, a 19-point (63-44) advantage with 11:15 left to play in the game.

California refused to go quietly, though, as the Vulcans clawed their way back to within eight points, 74-66, with 2:30 remaining before six straight points by The Rock pushed the lead into double digits for good.

Notes:

Saturday's win gave SRU a three-game sweep of the season series vs. California and was The Rock's fifth consecutive triumph over the Vulcans, who lead the all-time series by a 79-71 margin …  Reynolds is 8-3 vs. California as The Rock's head coach … Taylor, the No. 2 rebounder in the PSAC and No. 11 rebounder in the nation, has now grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 14 of the 26 games in which he has played this winter … Saturday marked the 16th time in 21 games played this winter Brooks has scored 10 or more points and the ninth time he had 10 or more rebounds … Davis' point total Saturday bettered his previous season-high total of 16 points scored 12/1/12 at Bloomsburg … The 20-point scoring efforts by Davis and Perry were the 10th and 11th times this winter a Rock player met or surpassed that mark.