SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team snapped it's two-game losing streak with a convincing 80-72 victory against Mansfield University in a contest that SRU never trailed in Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play from Morrow Field House.
 
The win evens The Rock's record to 2-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in league play. Slippery Rock is now 8-0 in home-openers under head coach Kevin Reynolds. Additionally, SRU is 82-19 in home games since the 2008-09 season and 16-0 in games played at Morrow Field House in the month of November.
 
Mansfield drops to 0-4 on the year overall and 0-2 in conference competition after the loss.
 
Slippery Rock benefitted from an offensive output that saw five different Rock players score at least 10 points. Senior guard Malcolm Richardson led the way with 21 points. Richardson overcame a rough shooting performance from the field (5-for-16) by converting all 10 of his free throw attempts. He also dished out five assists in the win.
 
Junior guard Maxx Rynd provided Slippery Rock with the bench scoring that it lacked in its first three games of the season by connecting on five 3-pointers and three free throws for a career-high 18 points. Slippery Rock's entire reserve unit came in to the game with a combined eight points on the season. Senior forward Erik Raleigh chipped in three blocks off the bench as well.
 
Senior guard Jamal Gatali continued to contribute in nearly every facet of the game with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. The lanky guard has now blocked four shots in consecutive games.
 
Senior center Cornelius Brown tallied his third double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Junior forward Chaquille Pratt rounded out The Rock's top performers with a 12-point, eight-rebound effort.
 
Slippery Rock was able to overcome a 37.9 field goal percentage by making 22 free throws to earn its first conference triumph of the season. For the game, Slippery Rock also held a dominant 55-31 (+24) edge in rebounds.
 
SRU jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the game's first four minutes. Gatali sparked the early run with a pair of 3-pointers. The Mountaineers cut The Rock's lead down to just five points at 20-15 with 11:28 left in the opening half, but Slippery Rock quickly rebounded with a 19-6 run to give itself an 18-point cushion with 4:20 left to play in the period. Mansfield could do little to guard The Rock in the half's final minutes as it could only trim three points off its deficit and Slippery Rock headed into halftime leading 46-31.
 
The Mountaineers outscored Slippery Rock by seven points in the second half, 41-34, but was unable to get The Rock's lead down to fewer than six points as SRU successfully fended off the Mountaineers' comeback bid down the stretch en route to its 80-72 victory.
 
Thomas Moore scored a game-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds to lead Mansfield.
 
Slippery Rock returns to action 3 p.m. Sunday when it hosts Lock Haven University.