SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Chaquille Pratt scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Malcolm Richardson and Naquil Jones both scored 10 points as the Slippery Rock University men's basketball team erased an 11-point deficit to defeat California (Pa.), 61-56, Saturday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division play at Morrow Field House.
 
The victory, which snapped SRU's four-game losing streak, evened Slippery Rock's overall record on the season to 9-9 while improving its PSAC West mark to 4-8. The Vulcans drop to 6-11 overall and 4-8 in league play with the loss.
 
Pratt was one of two Rock players, along with Richardson, to play all 40 minutes Saturday. He was an efficient 9-for-13 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line. The 24-point performance was three off of Pratt's career-high and his fifth game with at least 20 points at The Rock.
 
In addition to Pratt, Richardson and Jones, fellow Rock starters Cornelius Brown and Abdul King added eight and seven points, respectively. SRU's starters accounted for 59 of SRU's 61 points; reserve Erik Raleigh scored the other two points. Brown matched Pratt with eight rebounds of his own, just missing out on his ninth double-double of the season.
 
With three blocks against the Vulcans, Raleigh became just the second player in program history to record 100 blocks in a career. Raleigh's 102 rejections puts him 35 blocks behind Kevin Jones (1986-91), who holds the SRU blocks record with 137.
 
Maxx Rynd made three steals to round out SRU's top performers.
 
Slippery Rock did not lead for the entire first half and with 5:52 left in the period SRU found itself trailing 25-14. However, Slippery Rock ended the half on an 11-6 run to cut its deficit to six points heading into the break. Jones sparked the run with four points.
 
SRU continued to chip away at the California lead to start the second the half and after outscoring the Vulcans 12-5 over the first 5:47 of the period, Slippery Rock claimed its first lead of the night, 37-36, thanks to a layup by Pratt at 14:13.
 
The teams proceeded to trade the lead back-and-forth seven times over the next nine minutes. A jumper by Pratt put The Rock up 51-49 with 5:33 remaining in regulation. Slippery Rock held on to the lead for the rest of the game as SRU ended any thoughts of a Vulcan comeback by going 8-for-10 from the foul line and holding California to a 33.3 field goal percentage over the remainder of the game en route to the win.
 
For the game, Slippery Rock shot 42 percent (21-for-50) from the field and a season-high 85.7 percent (18-for-21) from the foul line. SRU forced California into 16 turnovers. The Rock held advantages over the Vulcans in points in the paint (36-24) and points off turnovers (16-9).
 
Tony Richardson came off the bench to score 11 points to lead California. The Vulcans shot just 50 percent (11-for-22) from the foul line.
 
Slippery Rock will look for a second consecutive win at home when it hosts Pitt-Johnstown 8 p.m. Wednesday.