SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team learned Saturday night it will open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament competition Tuesday night at Mercyhurst College in Erie.

Tipoff at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center is set for 7 p.m. Ticket prices for the quarterfinal game are $7 for adults and $2 for students, but students at PSAC member institutions will be admitted free with a valid school ID card.

The Rock enters the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed from the PSAC-Western Division with a 9-5 division record. SRU compiled a 19-9 overall record in regular-season action. The Green and White are making their second appearance in the conference tournament in the last three seasons.

Mercyhurst lost a 55-46 decision Saturday night at Indiana to finish second in the PSAC-West race with an 11-3 division record. The Lakers own a 20-6 overall record and, as a third-year member of the conference, are making their first appearance in the PSAC tournament.

The Rock and Lakers split a pair of regular-season meetings with each team winning on the other's home court. Mercyhurst claimed a 71-56 win Jan. 22 in Slippery Rock before SRU scored an 81-70 win Feb. 19 in Erie.

The Rock's win at Mercyhurst was one of two recorded by SRU in its final five games after winning the previous five, while the loss was one three the Lakers suffered in their last four games after starting the division schedule with 10 straight wins.

The winner of the Rock-Mercyhurst game will face the winner of Tuesday's opening-round game between PSAC-East champion Mansfield (18-8) and PSAC-East No. 4 seed Cheyney (18-8) in a semifinal game Friday.

Indiana (21-5), the PSAC-West champion and defending conference and regional champion, hosts PSAC-West No. 4 seed California (15-11) in another quarterfinal game Tuesday. The winner of that game meets either PSAC-East #2 Kutztown (16-10) or PSAC-East #3 East Stroudsburg (15-11) in a semifinal game Friday.

As the top seed in the PSAC-West, Indiana will host the semifinal and final games Friday and Saturday if the Crimson Hawks win their opening-round game. If Indiana loses its opening-round game and Mercyhurst beats The Rock, the final two rounds of the tournament would be played in Erie. If both Indiana and Mercyhurst lose in the first round, the semifinals and finals would be played at Morrow Field House in Slippery Rock.

Tipoff times for Friday's semifinal games will be set once the field of four is determined. The championship game will be played Saturday night.

The winner of the conference tournament earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional tournament, which will be held the weekend of March 10-13.

Rock notes:

The Rock beat Indiana in a quarterfinal game in 2008-09 before it lost a semifinal decision to Kutztown … That was SRU's first trip to the conference tournament since 2000 when an Anthony Jones-coached Rock squad advanced to the championship game … The last time SRU made two conference-tournament appearances in the span of three seasons was 1988-91 when all-time leading scorer Myron Brown led Bob Barlett-coached Rock teams to four consecutive PSAC tournament appearances … Dave Rooney coached The Rock to three straight conference-tournament appearances from 1982-84 … Senior forward Maron Brown begins the conference tournament as the No. 7 all-time rebounder (827) and No. 8 all-time scorer (1,239 points) in Rock men's basketball history. He is nine rebounds away from fourth place on that chart and 48 points away from seventh place on the scoring list … Kevin Reynolds, who owns a 55-29 record in three seasons as The Rock's head coach, is one win away from moving into a tie with Jones for sixth place on SRU's all-time wins list. He owns the school record for most wins by a Rock men's coach in his rookie season, first two seasons and first three seasons.

Tournament notes:

IUP, the defending tournament champions and national runner-up last season, is making its fourth straight appearance in the conference tournament … California will be making its first PSAC Tournament appearance since 2007, when the Vulcans fell in the semifinals but later rebounded to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight after winning the Atlantic Regional title … Mansfield will be making their third straight appearance in the PSAC Tournament and will be looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2006 … Cheyney is making its fifth straight tournament appearance. The Wolves made the semifinals for three straight years before falling in the quarterfinals at East Stroudsburg last season … Kutztown is in the tournament for the ninth straight season but will be looking for their first championship … East Stroudsburg qualified for the postseason for the second straight season.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Quarterfinals: Tuesday
(E4) Cheyney at (E1) Mansfield, 7 p.m.
(E3) East Stroudsburg at (E2) Kutztown, 7 p.m.
(W3) SLIPPERY ROCK at (W2) Mercyhurst, 7 p.m.
(W4) California at (W1) Indiana, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals: Friday
(at highest remaining West seed)
Cheyney-Mansfield winner vs. SLIPPERY ROCK-Mercyhurst winner, TBA
East Stroudsburg-Kutztown winner vs. California-Indiana winner, TBA

Championship: Saturday
(at highest remaining West seed after quarterfinal games)
Semifinal #1 winner vs. Semifinal #2 winner, TBA