GROVE CITY — The hole that the Slippery Rock High boys basketball team dug for itself proved to be just a bit too deep.

After being held scoreless in the second quarter at Grove City Tuesday night, the Rockets found themselves down by 15 points at halftime.

Led by Brian Giesler and Alec McDeavitt, who combined to score 28 points in the final two quarters, Slippery Rock cut Grove City's edge to 52-51 with 1:06 left in the game.

But the Eagles (10-5, 6-3) sank seven free throws in that final span to ice a 59-51 Region 6 victory.

“In the second half, we played the way we're capable of playing,” said Rockets coach Phil Bushre. “When you spend so much energy and time getting back into a game, you either close the deal or come up short, and that's what happened tonight.”

Grove City hit 13-of-14 free throws in the fourth period and drained 19-of-22 (86.3 percent) in the game.

Junior guard Alec Goodwin was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line in the final eight minutes, four of them coming in the last minute of play.

“We're a good free throw shooting team,” said Grove City coach Don Fee. “A lot of our guys are between 70 and 80 percent.

“Tonight, that's when you have to hit them, when the game's on the line,” he added.

Slippery Rock, which made 17-of-22 free throws in the game, scored its first 10 points of the fourth quarter from the line.

The Rockets then reeled off seven points in a five-second span to pull within two points with under four minutes to go.

The run began when McDeavitt drained a 3-pointer, stole Grove City's inbounds pass and made a basket.

Just as the shot was going down, a personal foul was called on the Eagles, sending Giesler to the line. The senior hit both free throws, trimming the Eagles' edge to just 47-45.

While points seemed to come easy for Slippery Rock in the fourth period, they were nowhere to be found in the second.

The Rockets entered the quarter with a one-point lead, but committed five turnovers and missed all six of their field goal attempts in the period.

“We wanted to get the ball inside, but Grove City pressured our guards and we panicked a bit,” Bushre said.

“Our defensive pressure was excellent in the second quarter,” Fee said. “But in the second half, we got into foul trouble and we had to back off. That allowed Slippery Rock to get the ball inside.”

Goodwin paced the Eagles with 19 points while Torin Smith had 16.

Giesler scored 19 points for Slippery Rock (7-7, 2-7), McDeavitt had 14 and Caleb Whitney 12.

The Eagles' win avenged a 44-42 loss to the Rockets Dec. 17.

SLIPPERY ROCK 51Sean White 0 2-2 2, Alec McDeavitt 4 5-5 14, Ryan Thompson 2 0-1 4, Brian Giesler 5 8-12 19, Caleb Whitney 5 2-2 12, Andrew Waryanka 0 0-0 0, Cody Wolinski 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16 17-22 51.

GROVE CITY 59Alec Goodwin 6 6-6 19, Brady Beech 1 2-2 5, Torin Smith 4 4-6 16, Alex Hall 0 1-2 1, Anthony Ruffo 1 2-2 4, Jon Anderson 3 4-4 10, Jordan Patterson 2 0-0 4.

Totals: 17 19-22 59.

Slippery Rock 13 0 13 25—51Grove City 12 16 11 20—593-point goals: Slippery Rock 2 (McDeavitt, Giesler); Grove City 6 (Smith 4, Beech, Goodwin).

Friday: Grove City at Sharon; Franklin at Slippery Rock