SLIPPERY ROCK — Kevin Reynolds shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and took a deep sigh.

In his mind, the explanation for the Slippery Rock University men's basketball 81-63 home loss to Gannon Wednesday night was a simple one.

"They were a better team, better coached and more ready to play," said Reynolds, in his second season as SRU men's basketball coach.

He repeated that refrain over and over again.

It was hard to argue with his assessment.

The Rock never led, fell behind by double-digits quickly and trailed by as many as 30 in the second half.

Part of the reason for the big deficit was poor shooting.

SRU shot just 26 percent from the floor, 21 percent on its 29 attempts from 3-point range and was outrebounded on the defensive boards 37-17.

They were ugly numbers on an ugly night for The Rock.

"The score was indicative of the game," Reynolds said. "They deserved to win by that amount."

What concerned Reynolds more than the poor shooting was the poor defense.

While SRU struggled offensively, Gannon had a field day from the floor.

The Golden Knights shot 66 percent in the first half and 57 percent in the game.

The match-up problems for Slippery Rock helped turn seldom-used Gannon 6-foot-9 freshman forward Tanner Furno into a superstar.

Furno came into the game averaging a mere 1.6 points per contest, but he poured in 27 — including three thunderous dunks.

Furno wasn't even listed among the Golden Knights' top nine players in the Gannon game notes.

"You have to be a hungry guy on the bench," Reynolds said of Furno. "Wait for your opportunity, and when opportunity is there, take advantage of it. He played great."

Larry Swann added 24 points for Gannon (7-8, 2-1), which came into the game having lost four of its last six.

The Rock (12-4, 1-2) now finds itself on a losing streak.

"It was desperate measures for them, and they played like it," Reynolds said. "Unfortunately, it was desperate for us, and we didn't realize it."

After falling behind by 30, Slippery Rock did manage to pull within 13, but could get no closer.

To Reynolds, this was no wake-up call.

"I don't know if it ever helps you to get beat by 18 points at home," Reynolds said. "If you are in conference play and you need an 18-point loss at home to realize the importance of every game, that's why you lose by 18.

"We should have been awake (anyway)," Reynolds said. "We should have been ready to play."

Women

For 15 minutes, the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team put a scare into undefeated and nationally ranked Gannon.

But The Rock (3-13, 0-3) could not maintain the intensity for the other 25 minutes in a 74-40 loss Wednesday night.

SRU held a 19-18 lead late in the first half, but scored just one field goal in the final seven minutes to fall behind by five at halftime.

Gannon (19-0, 3-0) opened the second half on a 10-2 run and rolled to it 29th straight regular-season victory.

It's been almost a full calendar year since the Golden Knights lost a game in the regular season.

"There is a reason why they are (ranked) fourth in the country," said SRU women's basketball coach Laurel Heilman. "There's a reason why they are 19-0. I still feel like we could beat them if we put two halves together. But there's a really small margin for error."

The Rock (3-13, 0-3) was outscored 47-18 in the second half.

Julie Kleber paced four Gannon players in double digits with 14 points off the bench.

Nikki Presto led SRU in scoring with eight points.

Gannon shot 32 percent from the field in the first half, but 55 percent in the final 20 minutes.

The Golden Knights got 32 of their points in the paint.

"The second half we came out and turned the ball over a couple of times," Heilman said. "That five-point lead turned to 13 and then it (escalated). They are just so balanced."

Heilman hopes the first-half effort carries over into the future.

"The least important thing is the halftime score," Heilman said.

"We just need one (win) under our belt," Heilman added. "It would help so much with our confidence and a reason to keep coming back. It's been difficult. But that's life. You have to persevere."

WomenGANNON 74Brittany Tabron 5-7 1-2 11, Kim Vargas 5-9 0-0 10, Tiffany Crocker 3-7 0-0 6, Carrie Nolan 2-7 2-2 8, Kristina Freeman 3-11 2-2 10, Caitlyn Lowe 2-7 0-0 6, Shanna Thompson 1-3 2-2 4, Amanda Dacek 1-3 0-0 2, Julie Kleber 5-8 0-0 14, Becky Innes 0-0 1-2 1, Kelsey McCoy 0-1 2-2 2.

Totals: 27-63 10-12 74.

SRU 40Grace Palucis 1-9 2-2 5, Amanda Mitatavage 2-10 0-0 4, Nikki Presto 3-11 2-2 8, Bethany Caudill 2-6 0-0 5, Sandra Busser 0-2 1-2 1, Julie Molloy 3-8 1-2 7, Kara Lazauskas 1-3 0-0 3, Alex Beatty 2-2 0-0 5, Katelyn Giffin 0-0 0-0 0, Emilee Vitez 0-3 0-2 0, Tynesha Lee 1-2 0-0 2.

Totals: 15-56 6-10 40.

Halftime score: Gannon 27-22

3-point goals: Gannon 10 (Nolan 2, Freeman 2, Lowe 2, Kleber 4); SRU 4 (Palucis, Caudill, Lazauskas, Beatty).

MenGANNON 81Anthony Simmons 2-4 1-2 5, Travis Brannen 5-8 0-0 11, Filmore Bouldes 1-4 0-0 2, George Johnson 0-8 6-6 6, Larry Swann 8-10 4-6 24, Steve Piotrowicz 1-2 0-0 3, Danard Crouch 1-2 0-0 3, Tanner Furno 12-15 3-6 27, Alfonso Scandrett 0-0 0-0 0

Totals: 30-53 14-20 81.

SRU 63Maron Brown 3-15 5-5 12, Jabril Bailey 4-13 6-7 15, Mike Evans Jr. 5-13 6-7 19, Maurice Douglas 0-8 2-2 2, Andre Tarver 3-8 2-4 8, Gary Satterwhite 0-0 0-0 0, Cecil Brown 1-3 0-2 3, Bryen Spriggs 1-4 0-0 2, Jade Burka 0-2 2-2 2.

Totals: 17-66 23-29 63.

Halftime score: Gannon 48-27

3-point goals: Gannon 7 (Brannen, Swann 4, Piotrowicz, Crouch); SRU 6 (M. Brown, Bailey, Evans Jr. 3, C. Brown).