SLIPPERY ROCK - It's amazing how far a little confidence can go.

The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team has been finding that out lately, and it's made a big difference in its performance.

Bill Johnson and Glenn Reepmeyer each recorded a double-double to help spark The Rock to a 66-60 victory over Clarion in a PSAC West matchup Wednesday at Morrow Field House.

The win was SRU's third in the past four games after a 1-14 start that included 11 straight losses to open the season.

"That's a big part of it," said SRU coach John Marhefka. "I want them to believe in themselves."

The Rock (4-15, 2-2) stayed with the Golden Eagles (11-6, 1-2) all evening, despite falling behind by as many as seven points (22-15) in the first half.

Neither team led by more than five points until a layup by SRU's Brandon Thompson with 7.6 seconds left closed out the scoring and sealed the win.

"I think (Slippery Rock) was intelligent and took time off the clock," said Clarion coach Ron Righter. "They made it a half-court game."

The game had 14 lead changes and three ties when, with 13:14 remaining in the second half, The Rock broke a 42-all draw with consecutive scores by Mason Glick and Johnson to take a 46-42 lead.

Four ties later, SRU took the lead for good when Glick buried a 3-pointer with 7:34 left for a 55-52 lead.

After the teams each drained a pair of free throws, the Eagles' Terrance Vaughns scored to make it a one-point game.

Although the SRU defense allowed only four points the rest of the way, the Eagles almost evened the score.

After a Reepmeyer layup, a Johnson jumper and a free throw from Glick gave The Rock a 62-56 lead with just under three minutes to play, Clarion scored four points in a six-second span to cut the deficit to two, 62-60, with 2:18 left.

A pair of free throws by Vaughns was followed by a steal off Johnson after the inbounds pass. Johnson was pinned in the corner by two defenders and tried to hit the leg of one of the players to make the ball go out of play. Instead, Clarion's Lee Church took the deflection and quickly scored.

Clarion had a chance to tie the game with 1:24 left, but Church missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

SRU got a pair of free throws by Johnson with 17.2 seconds left and Thompson had his breakaway layup in the final seconds.

"We didn't play well, and that's a credit to Slippery Rock," said Righter. "I'm disappointed in our overall effort. That's my fault as the coach."

Johnson sank all eight of his free throw attempts in the second half and The Rock connected on 13 of 15 attempts in that half.

Johnson finished with 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and Reepmeyer added 16 points, 11 boards, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

"Reepmeyer always has a career day against us," said Righter. "He owns us. For some reason, that kid has our number."

Glick chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Thompson had 13 points.

"Bill Johnson is getting better and better every day and Mason, he was a little shaky out there for awhile, but he was talking on the floor, making big plays and hitting a couple of big 3s," Marhefka said.

Notes:

SRU defeated Kutztown 75-62 on Jan. 16 before losing to Edinboro (83-60) and defeating Lock Haven 69-68 last Saturday. … Clarion had just one player in double figures, Wells with 17, who also led the team with nine rebounds.

SRU coach Laurel Heilman hasn't seen anything like this game in her coaching career. It would suit her if she never did again.The Golden Eagles used a 25-4 run midway through the first half to break open a close contest."Obviously, there's a reason they're No. 2 in the region," said Heilman. "I've been waiting all year for us to break out, but we haven't played well all year."If we played like we did in the past, we could have given that team a game but we were never in it. … That was the worst 40 minutes I've ever seen," she added.The Eagles (15-3, 3-0) shot a phenomenal 21-of-29 for 72.4 percent from the floor in the first half to take a commanding 46-19 advantage at the break. They shot 68.4 percent for the game.With Clarion leading 13-11 with 13:20 left in the first half, the Eagles broke the game open with that spurt, as seven players scored at least three points each in that span for a 38-15 lead with 6:14 left before halftime."That's why we're winning," said Parsons. "It's not just one player. You can stop one player, but it's hard to stop a whole team."The Eagles finished with six players in double figures, led by Heather Cigich's team-high 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Melba Melton added 16 points, four assists and three steals.The lone bright spot for The Rock (7-12, 1-3) was the play of junior guard Jess Caso, who led the team with 18 points, four rebounds and five steals."That was the best all-around game she's played," said Heilman. "There are parts of her game she can still improve, but she was our spark tonight. She's not a scorer but had 18 points."She showed up, but I was extremely disappointed in everyone but her."We'll come back, though, and get ready for Shippensburg (Saturday). We'll just keep bouncing back and trying to be persistent," Heilman added.Men's BoxCLARION (60)Michael Clarke 3-5 3-4 9, Frank Torbert 0-9 0-0 0, Bobby Franklin 2-6 1-2 6, Terrance Vaughns 3-10 3-3 9, Ryan Wells 7-14 3-4 17, Lee Church 4-5 0-2 8, Khary Moore 0-0 0-1 0, Craig Wellman 1-1 1-2 3, Garrett Heath 1-3 1-1 4, Chris Buchanan 1-5 2-2 4. Totals: 22-58 14-21 60.SLIPPERY ROCK (66)Bill Johnson 5-15 8-8 19, Mason Glick 5-8 2-4 14, Ryan Yaroski 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Bratten 0-3 0-0 0, Glenn Reepmeyer 7-13 2-2 16, John Kearney 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Thompson 5-8 3-3 13, Corey Nesser 0-0 0-0 0, Sean White 0-0 0-0 0, Dejan Jancic 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 24-50 15-17 66.Halftime - Clarion, 31-30. 3-point goals - CU 2-14 (Heath 1-2, Franklin 1-3, Buchanan 0-2, Vaughns 0-3, Torbert 0-4), SRU 3-12 (Glick 2-3, Johnson 1-8, Bratten 0-1). Rebounds - CU 29 (Wells 9), SRU 37 (Johnson 12). Assists - CU 2 (Clarke, Torbert), SRU 16 (Glick 5). Total fouls - CU 18, SRU 17. Fouled out - Clarke (CU); Technical fouls - none.Women's BoxCLARION (87)Melba Melton 8-10 0-0 16, Ashley Grimm 2-4 1-1 5, Amelia Harris 4-5 0-0 10, Shay Godwin 4-6 2-2 10, Heather Cigich 9-12 3-4 21, Jessica Saul 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Albanese 5-7 0-0 11, Tiffany Peacock 5-7 0-0 10, Jessica Skeggs 2-3 0-0 4, Jessica Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Michele Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 39-57 6-7 87.SLIPPERY ROCK (51)Amber McFeely 1-5 1-2 3, Stacey Green 3-5 0-0 7, Kristen Bonner 1-3 2-2 5, Jess caso 6-9 4-6 18, Erin Frankovich 2-4 0-0 4, Angela Greaser 1-3 0-0 2, Sarah Cybulski 0-0 0-0 0, Kara Spagnola 0-1 0-1 0, Amanda Chojnacki 0-3 1-2 1, Dana Stewart 1-3 1-2 3, Amanda Kaufman 1-1 0-0 2, Cathy Lee Peffer 0-0 0-0 0, KellyAnn Staudinger 0-3 2-4 2, Shawnette Patterson 1-2 0-0 2, Megann Powell 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 18-45 11-19 51.Halftime - Clarion, 87-51. 3-point goals - CU 3-5 (Harris 2-2, Albanese 1-1, Saul 0-1, Peacock 0-1), SRU 4-8 (Caso 2-2, Green 1-1, Bonner 1-3, McFeely 0-1, Greaser 0-1). Rebounds - CU 36 (Cigich 9), SRU 13 (Caso 4). Assists - CU 19 (Cigich 5), SRU 11 (McFeely 5). Total fouls - CU 13, SRU 9. Fouled out - none; Technical fouls - none.