SLIPPERY ROCK — In 29 seconds, Slippery Rock wiped out an eight-point deficit without giving up possession of the ball.

Five of the points during the rally came with no time running off the clock.

The chain of events occurred late in the third quarter, but could not prevent the Rockets (2-11) from a 62-56 home boys basketball loss to Franklin Saturday night.

“We just can't finish,” Slippery Rock coach Randy Armagost said. “That's been the story of our season.”

Neither team ever had a double-digit lead. The score was tied seven times and there were 10 lead changes.

“This game didn't go the way we thought,” Franklin coach Jason Fulmer said. “I feel like we should have come down here and dominated.

“But we found a way to win. I like the way we played down the stretch.”

The Knights (10-4) had a 41-33 lead — their biggest lead of the night — when they were whistled for a personal foul with 1:47 left in the third quarter. Before Emerson Tuten stepped to the line, Franklin point guard Preston Morgan was assessed a technical foul for saying something to an official.

As Morgan walked toward his bench, he muttered something about the call again and received a second technical, meaning ejection from the game.

“He is our best player,” Fulmer said. “We had to change our method of attack without him out there.”

Tuten sank one of two free throws for the personal foul. Nick Wherthey canned all four technical free throws. On the possession, Oliver Valera drained a trey to knot the game at 41 with 1:18 left in the period.

Hunter Prementine converted a three-point play to give Slippery Rock a 51-49 lead with 4:28 left in the game. It would be the Rockets' last lead of the night.

“Our problem has been scoring, hitting outside shots,” Armagost said. “We shot a little better tonight, but it just wasn't enough.”

With Morgan on the bench, fellow senior guard Brandon Johnson took over for Franklin. He engineered a 9-0 run that gave the Knights a 58-51 edge with 36.2 seconds remaining.

Johnson hit a pair of free throws and a lay-up to begin the run. He scored 10 of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.

“The Johnson kid stepped up for them,” Armagost said.

Johnson had six rebounds as well. Morgan tallied 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals before his early exit. Kaden Keely had 11 points, five rebounds and three steals, Tyus Wood 11 points.

Logan Croll and Valera paced the Rockets with 11 points, both sinking three treys. Prementine had nine points, five rebounds and three steals.

All three of Prementine's steals resulted in fast-break lay-ups by him the other way.

“Hunter's our point guard and a sparkplug for us,” Armagost said. “ He''s our leader out there.

“Our guys don't quit. We play hard and we're scrappy. We just haven't channeled that effort into wins yet.”

Franklin played its third region game in as many nights. The Knights lost games to Hickory and Grove City in the final minute the previous two evenings.

“This was a big one for us,” Fulmer said. “A third straight tight loss would have been tough to take.”

FRANKLIN 62

Ian Haynes 0-3 0-2 0, Dalton Buckley 1-1 0-0 3, Cody Hawke 0-1 0-0 0, Tyus Wood 4-9 0-0 11, Kaden Keely 1-8 9-10 11, Preston Morgan 6-18 0-0 13, Brandon Johnson 4-9 6-12 15, Zane Baughman 3-4 3-3 9. Totals: 19-53 18-27 62.

SLIPPERY ROCK 56

Hunter Prementine 4-4 1-3 9, Nick Wherthey 2-10 4-4 8, Emerson Tuten 2-3 1-2 5, Oliver Valera 4-4 0-0 11, Mitchell Houston 1-5 1-2 3, Luke Brandon 3-5 0-0 6, Judah Roth 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Croll 4-10 0-0 11, Rod Williams 1-4 1-2 3. Totals: 21-46 8-13 56.

Franklin 15 11 17 19 — 62

Slippery Rock14 11 19 12 — 56

3-point goals: Buckley, Wood 3, Morgan, Johnson; Valera 3, Croll 3

JV: Slippery Rock, 56-43 (F: Cody Hawke 11, Ian Haynes 10; SR: Judah Roth 20, Duncan McCoy 9)

Tuesday: Grove City at Slippery Rock