SLIPPERY ROCK— Grove City knows how to close out a half.

More importantly, the Eagles know how to close out a game.

Grove City's final 20 points came on lay-ups or free throws Saturday night as the Eagles remained perfect in Region 6 Class AAAplay with a 66-55 boys basketball trumph over Slippery Rock at the Rock Box.

"This is the most parity I've seen in this league in the last 18 years,"Grove City coach Don Fee said. "To be 3-0 at this point?We're ecstatic."

Saturday's win did not come easily.

Leading only 21-20 with 3:18 left in the first half, Grove City (10-3, 3-0) scored the final 10 points before intermission. Maxx Stutz stuck back an offensive rbound. Kyle Perrine stole the ball near midcourt, sank an eight-footer, was fouled, and completed the three-point play.

Jeff Hershberger canned a lay-up and Perrine drained a 3-pointer with three seconds left to complete the run.

Perrine, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, scored 13 of the Eagles' 17 points during the period.

"We needed someone to take control and settle things down. Kyle did that,"Fee said.

Grove City took a 40-32 lead into the fourth quarter and turned the ball over only six times in the first three periods.

During the first minute of the final stanza, the Eagles turned it over four times and the Rockets (7-5, 1-2) got back in the game.

"We switched to a press they hadn't seen the whole game,"Slippery Rock coach Sean Strickland said. "I think it caught them off-guard a little bit."

Senior forward Zack Ejzak fueled the rally for Slippery Rock, hitting a pair of free throws and turning a couple of steals into transition lay-ups. With 6:07 remaining, the Rockets trailed only 42-39.

"We lost our focus. Our concentration wasn't there,"Perrine said. "We made a bunch of bad passes."

But behind Perrine, Grove City settled down.

Following a Ryan McNamara lay-up, he sank a jumper to extend his team's lead to seven. Perrine sank four free throws in as many tries down the stretch. The first two occurred with 2:05 remaining and gave the Eagles a 57-46 lead.

Grove City sank eight of nine shots from the field and sank 10 of 14 free throws during the final quarter.

Ejzak led all scorers with 27 points — scoring 14 in the fourth quarter — adding five rebounds and four steals.

"Zack was the only one playing his game down the stretch,"Strickland said. "And it's tough to beat a team one on five.

"We made that run at them because we relaxed and just played ball. Our kids get too amped up when we play Grove City. We take ourselves out of games against them because of it. We have to calm down in those situations."

Matt Shearer had 11 points and eight rebounds while Brian Kelly added 11 points and seven boards for the Rockets, who had won four of their last five entering the contest.

"Slippery Rock is a tough team to defend,"Fee said. "You can only hope to contain Ejzak and they've got some power guys down low."

Perrine scored 21 for Grove City. McNamara added 12 points and five boards, Dwayne Martin 10 points and seven rebounds.

Slippery Rock held a 30-25 edge in rebounding overall.

"This was a big game, but I think our Tuesday game at Oil City is a bigger one,"Strickland said. "Either both teams are going to come out of that 1-3 or one (Oil City) is going to stay winless."

Two-time defending region champion Grove City stayed atop the pack with Saturday's victory. The Eagles have won nine of their last 10 games.

"Coach Fee told us ... Any win on the road in our region this year is like stealing,"Perrine said. "And we stole one."

GROVECITY66Keith Rundle 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Hershberger 1-1 2-2 4, Maxx Stutz 3-9 3-5 9, Ryan McNamara 5-8 2-4 12, Pat Johnson 3-6 0-0 7, Kyle Perrine 7-9 5-6 21, Dwayne Martin 3-8 4-6 10, Derek Forese 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 23-44 16-23 66

SLIPPERYROCK55Ethan Geisler 1-9 4-6 6, Derrick Orloski 0-2 0-0 90, Matt Shearer 5-9 1-5 11, Brian Kelly 4-9 3-4 11, Zack Ejzak 11-18 4-4 27, Brian Geisler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-48 12-19 55

Grove City 14 17 9 26—66Slippery Rock 14 6 12 23—553-point goals: Johnson, Perrine 2, Forese; Ejzak

JV: Slippery Rock, 40-32 (SR:Ryan Gordon 10, Brant Sloan 9, GC:Jeff Hershberger 7, David Cooper 7)

Tuesday: Slippery Rock at Oil City

Thursday: Grove City at Franklin