SLIPPERY ROCK — As Kevin Reynolds was explaining the No. 1 focus of his Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team, Frank Holloway walked past him in the bowels of Morrow Field House.

“Defense,” said Holloway on his way back into the locker room.

“Exactly, Frank,” Reynolds responded.

Defense has been The Rock’s calling card this season. That and rebounding. And grinding.

All three came together against California (Pa.) University in a 57-50 win in the regular-season finale Wednesday night.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for SRU (19-10 overall, 14-8 in the PSAC). The Rock will host Edinboro in the first round of the conference playoffs at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“We’ve won four of the last six; that’s how I look at it,” Reynolds said. “More so than saying we lost the last two. We have a home game Saturday. We’re good on our home floor. We have to get better. We can’t rest on our laurels.”

The Rock had another cold shooting night.

Slippery Rock shot just 28.8 percent from the floor, but got 21 offensive rebounds and its defense held Cal (14-14, 9-13) to just 36 percent shooting from the field.

The Rock also went the last 13 minutes of the game without committing a turnover and had just eight in the contest.

“It really was a gut-check win,” Reynolds said. “You shoot 28 percent and win, that’s a gut-check win.

“We’re an effort team,” Reynolds added. “We’re a blue-collar team.”

The Rock led 26-20 at the half and was up by as many as nine in the second half before Cal made a charge.

Late in the game and with the score tied at 38, The Rock went on a 7-0 run and held on from there.

Holloway led The Rock with 17 points and also added seven rebounds. Antonio Butler added 16 points and Erik Raleigh had 12 rebounds.

SRU wrapped up the regular season with 19 wins for the third year in a row.

“Third straight year we won 19 games in the regular season. We’re proud of that,” Reynolds said. “We don’t have what the other teams have in this league, so when we can get 19 in the regular season for three straight years, it’s a great accomplishment. It’s a credit to those guys in the locker room.”

Women

Cal 74, SRU 48

For about 31 minutes, The Rock played right with No. 20 Cal.

It was those other nine minutes that sealed SRU’s fate.

Cal (23-4, 19-3) went on a 24-4 run over the first nine minutes of the second half and held off one last charge by The Rock for the victory.

“They got us in the second half,” said Rock coach Bobby McGraw. “They outplayed us in the second half.”

It wasn’t all bad news for SRU. With the University of Pitt-Johnstown’s three-point loss to Edinboro Wednesday night, The Rock is in the conference tournament for the first time since 2005-06.

The Rock will play at Gannon Saturday afternoon in the first round of the tournament. Tip-off is 2 p.m.

“I’m so proud of the 15 girls in that locker room because they have been working as hard as they possibly could since Aug. 29,” McGraw said. “This was the goal before the season: to qualify for the PSAC tournament for the first time since 2005. I told them when they leave this locker room, this is a night to celebrate a major accomplishment and a new era for Slippery Rock women’s basketball.”

The Rock (11-15, 7-15) had wanted to cement its place in the conference tournament with a win over a ranked team and it trailed by just three at the half.

After falling behind 54-31, SRU cut the Cal lead to 11 in the second half, but the rally ran out of gas.

Taylor Siggers led The Rock with 22 points. D’Asia Chambers added 11.

“It’s a brand new season,” McGraw said. “Everyone is 0-0. I told them, who knows what can happen.”