SLIPPERY ROCK — In the first half, Kevin Reynolds bellowed the same phrase over and over to his struggling team.

“C’mon men,” Reynolds blustered, “that’s not what we want.”

After that shaky first 20 minutes, the Slippery Rock University men’s basketball coach got a lot more of what he wanted in the second half as The Rock seized control on the way to a 79-66 win over Edinboro University at Morrow Field House Wednesday night.

“We just had multiple mental errors from multiple players (in the first half),” Reynolds said. “Obviously, when you have that many breakdowns, it’s tough. But the second half was great.”

The Rock (18-8 overall, 9-5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-West) fell behind by 10 nearly right out of the gate and trailed 40-35 at the half.

But the Slippery Rock defense tightened up in the second half, helping The Rock go on a 23-7 run to take control of the game.

Edinboro shot 1-of-15 from the floor during the run.

“I was real happy with the ‘D,’” Reynolds said. “We gave them 40 in the first half and just 26 — 24 really, because we gave them that last bucket — in the second half. The defense was the difference.”

Reynolds went to a more athletic lineup in the second half to offset the Scots’ size inside.

Six-foot-9 forward Bryan Theriot still scored 21 points, but wasn’t nearly as a big a factor in the second half as he was in the first 20 minutes.

SRU also out-rebounded Edinboro 43-32.

Antonio Butler and Tabari Perry led The Rock with 17 points apiece. Maurice Lewis-Briggs chipped in 15. The trio scored 34 of their team’s 44 points in the second half.

The win did a lot to keep The Rock in position to host a first-round PSAC playoff game. It currently sits in fourth place in the West, one game behind Mercyhurst, two behind Indiana (Pa.) University, which comes to Morrow Field House Feb. 26, and 2½ games behind first-place Gannon.

SRU plays at Seton Hill Saturday.

“We need to win a minimum one of the next two to get a home game,” Reynolds said. “We just really need to take care of our business. Not only for the conference, but also for the NCAA, we need to win a bunch of games like last year to get into the tournament. At 18-8, it’s pretty good, but not where we want to be.”

Edinboro 82, SRU 64 (women) — The Slippery Rock women had no answer for Darche’ Jackson in the first half.

The Edinboro point guard scored 21 of her team-leading 23 points in the first 20 minutes as the Scots jumped out to a 32-11 lead, led 50-27 at the half and cruised to an 82-64 win over The Rock.

“Honestly, I know they are the best team in our conference, hands down, personnel-wise,” said SRU coach Tanya Longo. “If they put it together, they have the makings of a national championship-type team.

“We got beat by a better team,” Longo added. “I don’t think we gave them our best shot, though.”

SRU started poorly, shooting 5-of-20 from the field in falling behind by 21.

The Rock (5-19, 2-12) did play better against Edinboro (19-5, 13-1) in the second half, out-scoring the Scots 37-32.

D’Asia Chambers scored 23 points to lead SRU.

“She really has been extremely consistent for us, and in a lot of ways,” Longo said of Chambers. “She’s a very talented basketball player, very dangerous, and most teams don’t have a good match for her, so she does a lot of damage.”

Edinboro did a lot of damage with its starting five.

Laurel Lindsay added 18 points and Aignee Freeland and Lauren Hippo each had 16 for the Scots, who out-rebounded The Rock 48-32.

Despite the loss, Longo saw some things that encouraged her going into the final two games of the season.

“I like that we continue to progress, and I really like that we continue to fight,” Longo said. “I just would like for us to progress a lot faster. We’re young, and it shows.”

Men

EDINBORO 66

Xavier Churnac 2-7 3-3 7, Bryan Theriot 6-9 9-12 21, Henri Wade-Chatman 5-15 4-6 17, Alex Moore 0-4 0-2 0, Jonny Marsh 5-12 0-0 12, Will Marrow 1-2 1-2 3, Johnathan Logan 0-4 0-0 0, Bobby Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Sealy-James 3-4 0-0 6. Totals: 22-58 17-25 66.

SRU 79

Maurice Lewis-Briggs 7-12 1-1 15, Tabari Perry 5-11 4-5 17, Kelvin Dixon 1-3 0-0 2, Josh Martin 2-12 4-6 10, Maxx Rynd 1-3 2-2 5, Jordan Grady 1-2 0-0 2, Matej Delinac 0-2 2-2 2, Sa’Quan Davis 0-2 1-2 1, Antonio Butler 7-8 3-4 17, Cornelius Brown 1-1 5-6 8, Erik Raleigh 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-57 22-28 79.

Halftime score: Edinboro 40-35

3-point goals: Edinboro 5-16 (Wade-Chatman 3-6, Moore 0-1, Marsh 2-5, Marrow 0-1, Logan 0-3); SRU 7-14 (Perry 3-5, Martin 2-2, Rynd 1-2, Grady 0-1, Delinac 0-1, Davis 0-2, Brown 1-1)

Women

EDINBORO 82

Lauren Hippo 8-14 0-0 16, Aignee Freeland 8-13 0-0 13, Darche’ Jackson 9-16 5-6 23, Laurel Lindsay 5-13 5-6 18, Valerie Majewski 2-9 1-2 5, Katie Collins 1-3 0-0 2, Lily Hospers 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsey Jahn 0-0 0-0 0, Morgyn Patterson 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Raven Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Meghyn Patterson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 34-74 11-14 82.

SRU 64

Jazmyne Frost 6-14 2-4 14, D’Asia Chambers 10-19 3-6 23, Erica Aiello 4-8 1-1 10, Aidan geise 2-7 0-0 5, Megan Hardiman 1-4 0-0 2, Bridget McClure 0-0 0-0 0, Kara Houppert 3-7 0-0 7, Kassidy O’Keefe 0-0 0-0 0, Danielle Garroutte 0-0 0-0 0, Rebecca Olkosky 0-0 0-0 0, Kaylee Bush 1-1 1-2 3. Totals: 27-60 7-13 64.

Halftime score: Edinboro 50-27

3-point goals: Edinboro 3-14 (Hippo 0-3, Lindsay 3-6, Majewski 0-4, Hospers 0-1); SRU 3-13 (Chambers 0-1, Aiello 1-4, Geise 1-3, Hariman 0-1, Houppert 1-4)