SLIPPERY ROCK — The Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team knows what kind of team it is — and has gotten pretty good at it.

The Rock built a 16-point lead early in the second half, but California (Pa.) slowly chipped the deficit down to four points with 1:27 to play, but SRU held on for a 57-51 PSAC-West victory Wednesday.

The win gives The Rock (16-7, 13-6) a two-game lead for third place in the conference with three games remaining while the Vulcans (14-11, 11-8) are tied for fourth place with Clarion.

The top four teams in both conferences will advance to the postseason tournament.

“We grind games out,” Slippery Rock coach Kevin Reynolds said. “A lot of times it’s not very pretty, not a lot of style points ... A lot of guys didn’t have their best games. We held (Cal) to 51 points and that team has good players, and good coaches.”

“I don’t think either team played well tonight,” Cal coach Bill Brown said. “I think both have better teams. We just didn’t execute and we couldn’t make our open shots.”

SRU had opened the game with the first eight points, then used a 7-0 run — a three-point play, a tip-in and another basket, all by Devin Taylor — to open up a 26-14 lead with 3:27 left in the first half.

The Rock enjoyed a 32-18 lead before Steve Swiech scored on a layup with 36 seconds left, then forced a turnover and added a pair of free throws by Travon Vann with 1.1 seconds left to trim the deficit to nine points.

“We had a breakdown at the end of the half and that’s on me,” Reynolds said. “I should have called a time out. I like letting them play there.

“We were able to get it back up. Cal is good. They would have a nice run. They pushed the game at their pace. They like about 62 possessions a game. We like 67, 68, 72 per game.”

When Taylor, who finished with a game-high 24 points, connected on a 3-point play with 1:07 to play, The Rock enjoyed a 53-46 lead with 1:07 to play.

Reeves added 10 points while Tabari Perry added 10 rebounds and Taylor seven boards and four steals and a pair of blocks.

Swiech had 19 points and nine rebounds and Appiah 16 points.

SRU outrebounded the Vulcans 50-38.

“We knew we had to rebound well and Slippery Rock had 20 offensive rebounds,” Brown said. When you lose by six, that’s where you lose the game, giving them extra shots.”

The win, according to Reynolds, gives The Rock its most PSAC wins in program history and the team will try to build on that with three games remaining, including Saturday’s game at IUP.

“We have a good team and the win was a team effort,” Reynolds said. “You can’t have one or two guys carry you. We have 11 guys who can play and on any given night, any can hurt you.

“We haven’t won at IUP in a long time. We haven’t beaten them in a long time. We’ll enjoy this game for another half-hour, then it’s back to the grind. We’re happy, but not satisfied.”

California 72, SRU 64 (women) — SRU coach Tanya Longo was pleased to see her team not roll over against Cal.She sees it all as part of the process.“We maintained our strong focus in the second half. Never say die,” Longo said. “We’re a rebuilding program and (Wednesday) was a step in the right direction. I’m looking forward to it.”The Rock (5-18, 2-17) fell behind 13-0 and trailed by as much as 22 points four times early in the second half, the last time at 46-24 with 15:54 remaining.However, two scores by Jasmine Cooper and baskets by Paris Thomas and D’Asia Chambers, pulled Slippery Rock to within 14 points with 13:20 to play.The Vulcans, who have won 22 consecutive games against SRU, responded by scoring the next six points and nine of 12 — highlighted by a pair of steal and scores by Chelsea McKnight to make it 55-35 with 10:35 to play.The Rock held the Vulcans to zero baskets over the final six-plus minutes — making just six-of-14 of its free-throw attempts as SRU tried to rally back.“They hit some shots and got on a roll,” Vulcans interim coach Jess Strom said. “We’ve had inconsistencies all season. You’re not going to win championships that way. You can’t play one half and then not play another half.”Chambers led SRU with 16 points while Cooper added 14 points and Sherita Stanley 11. Emilee Vitez added 10 rebounds and Paris Thomas added seven assists.SRU was limited to just 16 first-half points, but posted 48 in the second half.“I do think we have to keep this game in perspective,” Longo said. “We want to focus on making improvements each day. We want to look at the big picture and keep going. Before you know it, these will be ‘W’s’.”

Women’s BoxCALIFORNIA 72Emma Mahady 1-3 4-4 6, Amy Johns 7-14 7-13 21, Danielle Luckett 6-14 1-2 13, Irina Kukolj 2-2 1-1 5, Ryah Gadson 1-3 5-6 8, Stephanie Michael 0-2 0-0 0, Chelsea McKnight 3-7 1-2 7, Kate Seebohm 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Kermond 0-1 0-0 0, Elena Antonenko 0-1 0-0 0, Selena Adamshick 0-3 1-2 1, Nakia DeBlanc 5-6 1-4 11.

Totals: 25-56 21-34 72.

SLIPPERY ROCK 64Jasmine Cooper 6-9 2-3 14, Danielle Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Erinne Cunningham 4-13 0-0 9, Paris Thomas 3-7 2-3 8, Sherita Stanley 5-6 0-0 11, Nicole Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Shannon Lee 0-1 0-0 0, D’Asia Chambers 5-13 3-5 16, Danielle Garroutte 0-0 0-0 0, Emilee Vitez 1-2 2-3 4.

Totals: 25-58 9-14 64.

California 33 39 —72Slippery Rock 16 48 —643-point goals: California 1 (Gadson); Slippery Rock 5 (Chambers 3, Cunningham, Stanley.

Saturday: Slippery Rock at Indiana (Pa.)

Men’s BoxCALIFORNIA 51Mitchell Weedon 2-5 0-0 4, Steve Swiech 8-12 3-6 19, C.J. Townes 0-2 1-2 1, Douglas Jr. Appiah 4-9 5-7 16, Travon Vann 1-4 4-5 6, Quentin Harding 1-5 0-0 2, John Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Tynell Fortune 0-6 0-0 0, 0, Keith Lowe 0-2 0-0 0, Chad Tipton 0-4 2-2 2, Jeremy Posey 0-2 1-4 1.

Totals: 16-52 16-26 51.

SLIPPERY ROCK 57Tabari Perry 1-5 1-4 3, Luiz Santos 3-5 0-0 6, Devin Taylor 8-16 8-11 24, Jon Valeriano 2-4 0-0 5, Aubin Reeves 3-9 4-5 10, Chaquille Pratt 2-7 0-0 4, John Bayardelle 1-8 0-0 2, Tommy Kelly 0-2 0-0 0, Torrance Timothy 1-7 0-0 3.

Totals: 21-63 13-20 57.

California 23 28—51Slippery Rock 32 25—573-point goals: California 3 (Appiah); Slippery Rock 2 (Valeriano, Timothy).

Saturday: Slippery Rock at Indiana (Pa.)