Video: Kevin Reynolds interview
Video: Maron Brown interview
Photo Gallery
Box Score

INDIANA, Pa. – Slippery Rock University outscored Cheyney University by a 51-30 margin in the final 20 minutes of action Friday night to record an 82-73 win and earn a berth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship game for the first time since 2000.

The Rock never led in the first 16 and a half minutes of the final half but, as was the case last Tuesday in a quarterfinal win at Mercyhurst College, once the Green and White got the advantage they never really let it slip away.

Senior guard Jabril Bailey scored on a post-up move with 3:20 left to play to give SRU its first lead, 68-66.

Cheyney's Bruce Kennedy buried a 3-point shot 10 seconds later to put the Wolves back on top, but that proved to be the last hurrah for the team from the eastern end of the state.

SRU scored the next nine points to take a 77-69 lead with just under a minute left and then canned five of six free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

The Rock (21-9) will now go in search of the school's second men's basketball conference title at 7 p.m. Saturday against either Indiana (Pa.) or East Stroudsburg.

Friday's win may very well have also locked up The Rock's first NCAA tournament berth since 1991.

SRU began the week ranked 10th in the Division II Atlantic Regional poll, but knocked off fourth-ranked Mercyhurst and No. 9 Cheyney in back-to-back PSAC tournament games since that poll was released.

Cheyney earned its spot in Friday's game with a win over No. 7 ranked Mansfield, a team The Rock had beaten Jan. 9 in SRU's Morrow Field House.

Further enhancing The Rock's NCAA-tournament bid is the fact last Tuesday's win at Mercyhurst was SRU's second in three meetings with the Lakers this winter.

The top eight teams in the final regional poll will earn berths to the NCAA tournament. The field of participants will be announced Sunday.

Senior forward Maron Brown bounced back from a sub-par scoring effort in last Tuesday's quarterfinal win at Mercyhurst College to score 32 points and grab 11 rebounds, both of which were game-high marks, to lead The Rock effort Friday night.

Brown was one of four Rock players to finish the game with a double-digit scoring total. Bailey added 22 points, 16 of which came in the second half, while Devin Taylor chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds in a substitute role and senior guard Rashiid Coleman contributed 11 points, also off the bench.

David Burton led Cheyney (19-9) with 26 points, while Sharif Bray, the PSAC's leading scorer at 21 points per game, matched that mark.

Bray, who had scored 30 or more points in each of the three previous games, was held to only seven points in the first half Friday night.

The Rock trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half of action despite shooting 42% (10-24) from the field.

Working against the Green and White in the opening stanza were 11 turnovers, which Cheyney converted into 15 points, and an inferior effort at the foul line.

Cheyney committed only three first-half miscues, which led to no Rock points. The Wolves also canned 12 of 13 (92%) free throws in the opening 20 minutes, while SRU made nine of 14 (64%).

SRU made 48% (12-25) of its shots in the second half of action to finish the game with a 45% (22-49) efficiency. The Rock was four of seven (57%) from 3-point range in the second half to finish with a 40% reading from long distance and made 23 of 26 free throws in the final 20 minutes to finish with an 80% effort.

Cheyney made only 33% (11-33) of its field goal attempts in the final half to finish at 39%, hit 31% of their 3-point shots to finish at 32% and was four of six from the foul line.

The Rock enjoyed a 42-30 advantage in rebounding and committed only four turnovers in the second half, which led to a mere three points for Cheyney.

SRU also outscored Cheyney by a 30-26 margin “in the paint” and by a 23-8 margin “off the bench.”

The Rock's only real run of the first half came after Cheyney had taken a 33-19 lead with seven minutes left before intermission.

SRU outscored the Wolves by a 12-4 margin in the next four and a half minutes to trim the margin to six points, 37-31, with 2:30 left.

Cheyney, which finished the period with a 44% (14-32) efficiency on its field goal attempts, closed out the first half with a 6-0 run, though, to take a 43-31 lead into the intermission.

Brown scored 16 first-half points for SRU, which held a 19-17 edge in rebounds at the intermission. Burton had 18 points for Cheyney, while Bray was held to only seven points

The Rock took advantage of a frigid shooting effort by Cheyney in the first four minutes of the second half to trim the deficit to five points, 43-38. Bailey scored five of The Rock points during that 7-0 run.

Cheyney bounced back to score the next five points to regain a double-digit lead at 48-38, only to see The Rock respond with an 11-5 spurt to trim the margin to six points, 55-49, with 11 minutes left to play in the game .

The Rock followed that with a 7-4 run to trim the margin to only three points, 59-56, with eight minutes remaining.

SRU finally took its first lead of the game, 68-66, with 3:25 left on a post-up move by Bailey.

The Rock continued to roll from there.

Notes:

The Rock will be making its seventh appearance in a PSAC title game Saturday. The Green and White's last appearance (2000) resulted in a 63-50 loss to Indiana … The 1962-63 team coached by Hank Baierl is the only Rock squad to capture a conference championship … Friday's win evened The Rock's record in PSAC tournament play at 13-13 … This year's berth is the 15th earned by a Rock men's team … SRU appeared in a PSAC semifinal for the 11th time … Brown improved his career totals to 1,279 points and 850 rebounds Friday night. He moved into a tie with Chuck Link (1974-78) on SRU's career rebounding chart and is only eight points away from passing Dennis Greene (1991-95) for seventh place on the scoring list … Friday's win moved third-year Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds into sole possession of sixth place on SRU's career wins list. Reynolds now owns a 57-29 record as The Rock's boss.