Final statistics
Video Interview

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team rode a four-player, double-digit scoring attack to a hard-fought 72-65 victory Sunday afternoon over visiting Mansfield University in the final Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference “crossover” game of the season.

Junior guard Devin Taylor led The Rock attack with 20 points and nine rebounds. Senior forward Maron Brown added 16 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th “double-double” of the season. Senior guard Jabril Bailey chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds and junior guard Jon Valeriano scored 10 points and handed out six assists for The Rock, who recorded their third straight win and improved their season record to 10-4.

Sunday's game was The Rock's final tuneup for PSAC-Western Division action. SRU closes out a three-game homestand Wednesday with an 8 p.m. game against Clarion. That will be the first of 14 straight division games the Green and White will play to close out its 2010-11 regular-season schedule.

Tony Fannick scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds Sunday for Mansfield (8-4), while Derrison Anthony added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Yuseff Carr chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Rock never trailed in the game after they scored 14 of the first 18 points to take a double-digit lead five minutes into the action.

The Green and White kept their foot on the proverbial gas pedal and held a pair of 19-point advantages, the second a 28-9 bulge with 7:45 left, before taking a 35-26 lead into the intermission.

Taylor led the charge by scoring eight of SRU's first 10 points, 13 of their first 23 and 15 of their first 30. He led all scorers at halftime with that 15-point total and also had a game-high seven rebounds at the intermission.

The Rock made 41% (13-32) of their field goals attempts in the opening 20 minutes, hit three of seven (43%) long-range shots and canned six of seven (86%) free throws.

Mansfield, meanwhile, shot an icy 27% (8-30) from the field, 33% (3-9) from beyond the arc and a chilly 47% (7-15) from the foul line.

The Rock held a slim 24-21 rebounding edge at the break and had one less turnover (7-6) than the Mounties. SRU held 16-6 and 11-2 advantages in scoring “in the paint” and “off the bench,” respectively.

SRU came out of the locker room with a head of steam and scored the first eight points to push its lead to 17 points, 43-26, after only 90 seconds half elapsed in the second half of action.

But nine minutes later, Mansfield had put together a 24-10 run and trimmed the margin to three, 53-50.

The Rock answered that rally, only to find Mansfield undaunted. The Mounties generated another comeback moments later, this one trimming the difference to two points, 60-58, with four minutes left.

SRU answered that Mansfield rally as well, scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a 68-60 lead into the final minute of action and made that cushion stand up.

Final statistics showed The Rock with a 47% (27-58) efficiency from the field, a 47% (8-17) accuracy from 3-point range and a 63% (10-16) reading from the foul line.

Mansfield hit 31% (19-62) of its action shots, 30% (6-20) shots from beyond the arc and 68% (21-31) of its charity tosses.

SRU finished the game with a slim 40-39 edge in rebounds but was on the high end of a 14-11 turnover comparison. The hosts held a 30-18 advantage in scoring “in the paint” and an 11-2 margin in bench scoring.

Notes:

Brown now needs 21 points to become the 20th player in Rock men's basketball history to score 1,000 career points. He ranks 13th in career rebounds with 690 and needs 11 to move up one spot, 34 to move up two spots and 60 to move into the top 10 … Sunday's win was the 46th recorded by The Rock in three seasons under head coach Kevin Reynolds. He is five wins shy of the school record for wins by a Rock coach in his first three campaigns. Reynolds ranks 10th in career wins and is eight victories away from moving into a tie for seventh place.