SR sinks Freeport
BUFFALO TWP — Slippery Rock had a feeling of déjà vu during the championship game at the Freeport Holiday Tournament.
The Rockets, who saw a 21-point lead against Bradford whittled down to one before pulling away Tuesday, grabbed a 27-9 lead early in the second quarter Wednesday.
Freeport climbed back with a 28-7 run to take a three-point lead late in the third period.
But the Rockets turned to Alec McDeavitt, who buried consecutive 3-pointers to help Slippery Rock to a 53-47 victory.
“Once again, our guys withstood the comeback,” said Rockets assistant coach Randy Giesler. Head coach Phil Bushre missed the game because his wife was expecting their first child.
“We knew Freeport would come after it. I was pleased with the effort,” Geisler added.
McDeavitt, who connected on a 3-pointer in Tuesday's game after the Owls had cut the deficit to one, came up big once again.
“A big 3 is the ol' dagger,” said Giesler. “That restored our confidence more than anything.”
After Freeport opened the game with a Derek Durand basket, the Rockets (5-1) went on a scoring spree that gave them a 24-6 lead early in the second quarter.
Slippery Rock still enjoyed a 32-18 advantage inside the final minute of the first half before the Yellowjackets' Cody McClelland closed out the half with a pair of free throws that sparked a 19-2 Freeport run.
That run was finished off by consecutive 3-pointers by Brendan Lynch, which knotted the score at 34, then a trey by Ryan Dunn to give the Yellowjackets (2-4) a three-point lead.
“We tried to develop a sense of what we could do as a team with our skills,” said Freeport coach Garrie Davies. “Defensively, we were able to do it in the second half. We held them to 21 points”.The teams exchanged baskets before the Rockets scored 10 unanswered points and 16 of 19 — highlighted by McDeavitt's consecutive 3-pointers — to take a 52-42 lead with 1:52 to play.Freeport got no closer than five points.<B>Notes:</B> McDeavitt was named the tournament MVP with his 23-point performance while teammate Ryan Thompson added 11 points. The Yellowjackets received 16 points from Brendan Lynch. ... Brian Giesler was named to the all-tournament team as was Freeport's Jake Campbell, who had nine points and four steals against the Rockets.<B>SLIPPERY ROCK 53Sean White 2 0-0 4, Alec McDeavitt 7 6-7 23, Ryan Thompson 4 3-8 11, Brian Giesler 2 2-4 7, Caleb Whitney 2 1-2 5, Dustin Mellot 1 0-0 2, Andrew Waryanka 0 1-3 1. </B>Totals: 18 13-24 53.<B>FREEPORT 47</B>Derek Durand 1 0-1 2, Brendan Lynch 4 7-9 16, Jake Campbell 3 2-2 9, Shawn Liberto 3 0-1 6, Don Pastoria 0 0-0 0, Tyler Singer 1 0-0 2, Ryan Dunn 1 0-0 3, Cody McClelland 3 3-4 9. <B>Totals:</B> 16 12-17 47.<B>Slippery Rock 19 13 9 12—53Freeport 6 14 19 8—473-point goals:</B> Slippery Rock 4 (McDeavitt 3, Giesler); Freeport 2 (Lynch, Campbell).<B>Tuesday:</B> Meadville at Slippery Rock; Freeport at Leechburg
