SLIPPERY ROCK — Franklin was like the fish that got away.

The Slippery Rock boys basketball team had it on the hook and was reeling it in, only to watch it squirm away.

Now it's the Rockets doing reeling and squirming after their 61-55 double-overtime loss to Franklin at the Rock Box Tuesday night.

"We've had a problem all year with closing out games," said Slippery Rock coach Sean Strickland. "We talked about at the beginning of the year that that would be the difference in this region this year. Now I'm sitting here again for probably the fifth or sixth time this year talking about some really, really bad plays in the fourth quarter.

"We just don't learn from it."

Slippery Rock (9-7, 2-4) never trailed until two minutes into the first overtime and had leads of 41-31 and 47-40 in the second half.

ButFranklin (12-3, 5-1) would not yield.

The Knights forced the Rockets into a deliberate tempo, playing a zone that bottled up Slippery Rock leading scorer Zack Ejzak.

It was in stark contrast to the first time the two teams met, when the Rockets raced to a 79-77 win, getting a chunk of their points in the transition game.

Slippery Rock had few transition opportunities Tuesday.

"They knew they couldn't play at a faster pace," Strickland said. "The higher the score, the better chance we had at winning. We had to make sure against that zone that we got good shots every time. We had to be patient."

For most of the game, that strategy worked.

WithEjzak hounded by a zone that collapsed on him in the high post and limited him to one field goal and six points, Slippery Rock worked the ball inside to Matt Shearer. The senior scored 18 points in the first three quarters.

But Franklin bottled him up, as well, holding him scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Shearer ended up with 20 points, but Franklin kept him at bay enough to launch its rally.

Tim Maleski keyed the comeback for the Knights, hitting two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Robbie Villar also scored six points in the fourth period for the Knights.

In the second overtime, Maleski was 5-of-6 from the free throw line and finished with a game-high 21 points.

"I just thought it was a heck of a gutty effort on our part to come back," said Franklin coach Bill Hager. "This league is so balanced from top to bottom. It's a fun region to play in now with the parity in this league."

Slippery Rock isn't finding the parity so enjoyable.

The Rockets have lost three straight region games and four overall by a combined 24 points.

That makes Friday night's home clash against Hickory all the more important.

A win and the Rockets stay alive. A loss and, "I would think that we're done," Strickland said.

"We're at the point now where we are just struggling to make the playoffs and that's just really unacceptable," Strickland added. "I take the blame as the coach that a team with as much talent as we have is just not getting it done."

FRANKLIN 61Eric Caffrey 4-9 0-2 10, Jack Villar 4-11 0-0 8, Ryan Hart 0-2 0-0 0, Tim Maleski 5-10 9-11 21, Drake Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, David Owens 0-0 0-0 0, Robbie Villar 6-7 1-3 13, Bryan Smith 3-9 1-2 9.

Totals: 22-50 11-18 61

SLIPPERY ROCK 55Ethan Geisler 5-9 2-4 12, Derrick Orloski 1-3 1-1 3, Matt Shearer 9-11 2-3 20, Zack Ejzak 1-8 3-6 6, Brian Kelly 5 0-0 12, Brant Sloan 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Cress 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Giesler 0-4 2-2 2.

Totals: 21-44 10-16 55

Franklin 8 9 14 16 5 9—61Slippery Rock 14 9 15 9 5 3—553-point goals: Caffrey 2, Maleski 2, Smith 2; Kelly 2, Ejzak

JV: Franklin 42-39

Friday: Hickory at Slippery Rock