SLIPPERY ROCK — Before the game, officials made members of the Seneca Valley boys basketball team take off the black shirts under their Columbia blue away jerseys.

The Raiders might leave those black shirts at home the rest of the season.

Without the undershirts, Seneca Valley hit 7-of-8 3-pointers in the first half and were 16-of-29 in the first 16 minutes from the floor on the way to a 75-48 win over Slippery Rock Tuesday night.

"The officials told them to take them off because they didn't match our uniform color," said Seneca Valley coach Vic Giannotta. "I told them after the game, 'No one is wearing them again.'"

Perhaps Slippery Rock should have left its undershirts in the locker room at halftime.

After the Rockets played almost even with Seneca Valley in the first half, shooting a better percentage from the floor than the Raiders, the bottom fell out in the second half.

A seven-point deficit at halftime turned into a 13-point hole a mere 1:15 into the third quarter and the Rockets never recovered.

Coming out flat in the second half has been a bugaboo that has plagued Slippery Rock coach Sean Strickland since he took over the program three seasons ago.

"That's been our Achilles' Heel the last three years," Strickland said. "I've tried every different coaching method I can think of. We might just stop going in at halftime and see what happens."

For the first 16 minutes, Slippery Rock matched Seneca Valley's athleticism.

Rhett Gordon scored all 11 of his points in the first half as the Rockets trailed 23-22 at the end of the first quarter.

The Rockets scored only 13 points in the second half. After shooting 58 percent from the field in the first half, they hit on only 3-of-20 in the second half.

"Did we do anything different on defense (in the second half)?" Giannotta said. "I can honestly say no. I just think we came out more focused."

Seneca Valley is off to a 3-0 start, which is nothing new for the Raiders, who started 4-1 last year but faded during the section schedule.

Slippery Rock is 1-2. That, too, is nothing new. The Rockets are 7-40 the last two years.

But Strickland hopes what follows is new.

"I know if we have five guys playing as one, we can play with anybody," Strickland said.

SENECAVALLEY 75Gabe Grinder 4-7 0-0 11, Kevin Mayberry 7-9 1-3 15, Pat Heery 5-7 0-0 12, John Fitzpatrick 4-6 0-0 10, Shawn Eagle 3-5 2-4 8, Tony Tresser 1-5 4-4 6, Sean Gress 2-3 0-0 4, Kevin Rohm 2-3 0-0 4, John Bryant 1-2 0-0 2, Brandon Durbin 1-1 0-0 3, Drew Dietrick 0-1 0-0 0, Nate Herman 0-1 0-0 0, Dustin Anawalt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 30-51 7-11 75

SLIPPERYROCK 48Rhett Gordon 4-8 3-3 11, Kendall Mahan 3-7 1-1 8, Brian Kelly 2-8 0-0 4, Zach Ejzak 4-10 1-1 9, Matt Shearer 4-6 1-1 0, Nick Cress 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Giesler 0-0 0-0 0, Jarod Agostino 2-4 0-0 4, Derrick Orloski 0-1 3-4 3, Vince Papley 0-2 0-0 0, Ken Osselborn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-46 9-10 48

Seneca Valley 23 19 18 15—75Slippery Rock 22 13 5 8—483-point goals: Grinder 3, Heery 2, Fitzpatrick 2, Durbin, Mahan

JV: Seneca Valley 48-33

Friday: Slippery Rock at Cambridge Springs; Seneca Valley at Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament