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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University held onto at least a share of the lead in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division men's basketball standings Saturday afternoon thanks to a methodical 64-43 win over visiting Mercyhurst University in Morrow Field House.

The Rock (14-4 overall, 5-1 PSAC W) and Mercyhurst (8-8, 4-2) entered the game tied with fifth-ranked Indiana, Pa. (14-1, 4-1) for first place in the division standings. Indiana hosted California, Pa. in a division game Saturday night.

The Rock put a four-game win streak and their first-place standing on the line Wednesday when they host Seton Hill in an 8 p.m. game in  Morrow Field House before visiting Indiana next Saturday, Jan. 25, for the first of two regular-season duels with the Crimson Hawks.

SRU closed out the first half of action Saturday with a string of five unanswered points to take a 15-point, 35-20, lead into the intermission, then scored the first nine points in the second half of action before going into cruise control.

The Rock enjoyed their largest lead of the game, a 25-point (48-23) advantage, with 13:15 left to play and never led by less than 17 points the rest of the way.

Mercyhurst's point total Saturday was the lowest recorded by an NCAA Division II Rock opponent since, ironically, SRU recorded a 72-40 win Dec. 9, 1989 in Morrow Field House.

Irony #2: On the 24th anniversary of that defensive gem (Dec. 9, 2013), The Rock held Penn State New Kensington to 41 points, the lowest point total recorded by an SRU rival this winter.

Final statistics from Saturday's game showed The Rock hitting 49% (23 of 47) of their field-goal attempts, 47% (8 of 17) of their 3-point shots and a dreadful 46% (10 of 22) of their free throws.

Mercyhurst, which scored the first two points of the game but never led thereafter, made 36% (16 of 44) of its action shots with a 20% (2 of 10) showing from 3-point range and sank nine of 12 free throws.

SRU held a 36-22 rebounding advantage and also had less turnovers by an 11-10 comparison.

Senior guard Josh Martin too game-high scoring honors with 14 points for SRU and also grabbed six rebounds and handed out six assists. Junior forward Kelvin Dixon and redshirt sophomore guard Maxx Rynd each added 12 points to the winning effort. Senior center Maurice Lewis-Briggs had 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds and redshirt junior guard Antonio Butler scored nine points.

Anthony Lytle was the only Mercyhurst player to record a double-digit scoring total as he scored 10 points.

Notes: The Rock are one win away from assuring themselves a sixth consecutive winning season, a feat that hasn't been recorded by the Green and White since 1928, the last season of an 18-year run of winning records … Lewis-Briggs extended his current string of double-figure scoring performances to seven games Saturday. He has scored 10 or more points in 14 of The Rock's first 18 games this winter.