SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Tanner Furno (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) and Larry Swann (Columbus, Ohio/Brookhaven) were the unstoppable duo Wednesday night as the Gannon men's basketball team stunned Slippery Rock with a convincing 81-63 road victory in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division action.

Furno and Swann both recorded season-highs with 27 and 24 points respectively, combining to hit 20-of-25 field goal attempts. Furno had scored 22 points through the first 14 games while Swann had netted 34 points in the seven games he played in.

Gannon took the Morrow Field House floor with two new starters in Filmore Bouldes (Romulus, Mich./Romulus) and Anthony Simmons (Rochester, N.Y./Allendale Columbia) and immediately took control of the contest.

Travis Brannen (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) and Swann opened the game with back-to-back jumpers. Minutes later, a three-pointer by Swann and a jumper by Simmons gave the Golden Knights an 11-5 lead 4:53 into the affair.

The Gannon lead stood at 26-21, before the Golden Knights dominated the final minutes of the first half. Danard Crouch (Syracuse, N.Y./Anthony Henninger) ignited a 22-6 run over the final 7:48 with a three-pointer.

Six Golden Knights scored during the blitz. Furno, Brannen and Swann recorded five points each. Brannen hit his first career triple and Steve Piotrowicz (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) nailed his fourth three-pointer of the season during the run. Furno's put-back dunk with 22 seconds left capped the first-half scoring and sent the Golden Knights to the intermission with a commanding 48-27 advantage.

Swann finished the first half with 17 points, hitting 7-of-8 overall shots and was perfect in three attempts from behind the arc. Furno added 11 points with a spotless 5-of-5 shooting chart. Overall, Gannon shot 66.7 percent (20-30) from the field and 66.7 percent (6-9) from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. Defensively, the Golden Knights limited Slippery Rock to 29 percent (9-31) overall shooting and 23.5 percent (4-17) shooting from three-point range.

Head coach John T. Reilly's club opened the second half with nine straight points and grabbed its largest lead of the evening at 57-27. Swann hit a three-pointer 36 seconds into the second half. Simmons and George Johnson (Arlington, Va./Wakefield) added two points each, before a pair of Swann free throws pushed the lead to 30 points.

That's when Slippery Rock made the run that every good team makes. The Rock scored 12 consecutive points while holding Gannon without a field goal for four minutes and 16 seconds. Jabril Bailey's three-pointer cut the deficit to 57-39 at the 13:47 mark.

Seven straight free throws brought the Rock within 61-48 with 10:47 to play. However, Gannon stopped the run when Bouldes converted a driving lay-up while falling to the ground. Two Johnson free throws bumped the lead back to 17 points.

Slippery Rock managed to cut the deficit to 13 points (74-61) again with 3:20 remaining, but Furno answered with another dunk. Fittingly enough, Furno's jumper with 33 seconds left accounted for the final 81-63 score.

Furno led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, hitting 12-of-15 shots. The freshman forward hit four more shots and scored five more points than he did in the previous 14 games. Swann finished close behind with a season-high 24 points, nailing 8-of-10 overall shots and 4-of-4 three-point attempts.

Brannen added 11 points and nine rebounds. Johnson scored six points while grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

Gannon shot 56.6 percent (30-53) from the field, 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range and 70 percent (14-20) from the free throw line. The Golden Knights' previous season-highs were 55.3 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from three-point range.

Mike Evans Jr. headlined the Slippery Rock attack with 19 points. Bailey and Maron Brown chipped in 15 and 12 points, respectively. The Rock shot 25.8 percent (17-66) from the floor, 20.7 percent (6-29) from behind the arc and 79.3 percent (23-29) from the charity stripe.

Gannon improved to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the PSAC Western Division, improving to 6-2 in games following a loss this season. Slippery Rock dropped to 12-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play. The Golden Knights return to action Saturday, January 23 against ninth-ranked Indiana (Pa.) at the Hammermill Center. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

For a complete box score from Wednesday's Gannon-Slippery Rock men's basketball game, please click here.