JACKSON TWP — Ryan Dutton was a little out of control, but he forged ahead anyway.

Everything worked out for the Slippery Rock freshman center, sparking the Rockets to their first win in 2014.

Dutton caught a pass in transition and finished off a layup with a minute left in the game, giving the Rockets enough separation for a 48-44 boys basketball road win over Seneca Valley Saturday night.

More importantly for Slippery Rock, it snapped an eight-game losing streak.

“Hopefully, this gives us good turnaround for this season, so we can finish off this season hard,” said Dutton, who scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “We have come off several tough losses and we felt like this would be a good time to turn around the season.”

In the final two minutes, Dutton was involved in three key possessions. He caught a lob from Jake Whitmer with 1:45 remaining and scored a layup to give the Rockets (5-11) their first lead, 43-42.

After a free throw from Whitmer, Dutton made a driving layup in transition to put Slippery Rock ahead 46-42.

“I reacted a little more rash than I felt like I should of. Sometimes you’re young and under pressure and you just go for it,” Dutton said. “If that’s what wins the game eventually, aggression is what it takes.”

On the next possession, Dutton got the ball in transition and missed, resulting in a layup by Chad Izenas with 2.6 seconds remaining. Dutton was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and made two free throws to seal the win.

“He’s shown the signs all year. When he makes the mistakes, we remind ourselves he’s a freshman,” Slippery Rock coach Phil Bushre said. “He’s coachable, so you can talk to him. Even afterwards, he understood maybe I should have taken a dribble. I’m very impressed with his composure at his age.”

Slippery Rock’s whole team displayed their mettle. At halftime, the Rockets were behind 28-17 and had committed 11 turnovers.

“I think these are the type of games you can look back on in the future and say this is how we can play,” Bushre said. “I think even this year we go into Grove City Tuesday, which is our big rival, and any confidence going into that game can be a good test.”

Seneca Valley looked gassed. The Raiders were coming off a 72-62 double overtime win over Pine-Richland that clinched a playoff spot.

The Raiders also played without their main 3-point threat Dakota Topf, who missed the game with an injury.

“It was a trap game for the Raiders. After last night’s win to clinch a playoff spot, the tank was empty,” Seneca Valley coach Victor Giannotta said. “There’s no excuse for this effort. If we want to make any noise in the WPIAL playoffs, we can’t play like we did tonight. Congratulations to Slippery Rock, they played well and had excellent coaching.”

The Raiders used a 6-0 run to close the first half to take their biggest lead, 28-17. Matt Darby, who scored a team-high 12 points, made a layup at the buzzer to cap the stretch..

Whitmer, who scored a game-high 17 points and had two assists, said the Rockets were more disciplined with their press break in the second half.

“We didn’t do what coach was telling us to do (in the first half). We went off and did our own thing,” Whitmer said. “We had to buckle down and we started doing what he told us to do and it worked out for us.”

SLIPPERY ROCK 48

Jake Whitmer 5 5-10 17, Brady Kadlubek 4 2-2 11, Matt Badger 0 0-0 0, Camren Neal 1 0-0 2, Ryan Dutton 4 6-9 14, Mark Cessar 1 0-0 2, Aaron Rager 1 0-0 2, Blake Heller 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 12-21 48.

SENECA VALLEY 44

Zach Snyder 4 0-3 8, Matt Darby 4 3-4 12, Chad Izenas 1 0-0 2, Mike Smith 4 2-3 10, T.J. Holl 0 1-2 1, Josh Bauer 2 0-0 4, Bryce Schnatterly 1 0-1 2, Matt Dramble 0 0-0 0, Jack Cook 1 0-0 3, Sam Barbe 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 6-13 44.

Slippery Rock 10 7 17 14 — 48

Seneca Valley14 14 7 9 — 44

3-point goals: Slippery Rock 2 (Whitmer 2); Seneca Valley 2 (Cook, Darby)

JV: Seneca Valley 61-32

Tuesday: Slippery Rock at Grove City; Seneca Valley at Hampton