Slippery Rock's Ethan Plesakov, left, looks to find an open man against Sharon's Connor Porterfield (23) during the Rockets' 47-44 boys basketball loss Thursday night. Plesakov scored 20 points.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Ethan Plesakov hobbled off the court, shaking his head.

Frustration was drawn deeply on his face.

It's been that kind of season for the Rockets.

Oh so close. Competitive. But falling short at the end.

The latest disappointing denouement in the Rockets' season so far came at the hands of Sharon and a familiar face — Tigers' coach Zach Sarver, who starred for Slippery Rock during his high school days.

There were glimpses in the 47-44 loss: a 14-2 run to end the third quarter that gave the Rockets a 37-32 lead; Plesakov battling through an ankle injury to score 20; and the play of Alex Duffalo and Walker Vogan off the bench as point guard John Sabo was dogged by foul trouble the entire game.

“It's really frustrating,” said Slippery Rock coach A.J. Motta. “I think we did a lot of great things tonight. Just the inability to finish came back to hurt us.”

Slippery Rock (4-10) and Sharon (5-10) played even through most of the game. Both teams scored exactly 10 points in each of the first two quarters.

Sharon began the third on a 10-3 run. Slippery Rock ended it on a run of its own.

But Motta's mantra of win every quarter didn't shape up in the fourth as the Tigers quickly staunched the bleeding and switched momentum.

“It was very important,” Sarver said of the 10-4 run that gave Sharon the lead in the fourth. “I think that Shawn (Hill) and Brayden (Coxson) being in some big games over the year really showed there at the end of the game. They are a couple of seniors who don't want it to end just yet.”

Hill scored 17 to lead Sharon.

The Rockets had the ball late down by 3 with a chance to tie, but Sharon had only two fouls and used them wisely.

The Tigers fouled to prevent Slippery Rock from getting off a shot. The Rockets did, however — a good look by Sabo — but it clanked off the rim.

“We didn't foul soon enough (on Sabo),” Sarver said. “We had a few to give and we wanted to waste some time there.

“It wasn't pretty basketball. But we made enough plays to sneak out of here with a win.”

SHARON 47Cortez Nixon 1-5 1-2 3, Otis Driver 2-6 0-0 4, Shawn Hill 5-11 4-4 17, Connor Porterfield 6-11 2-3 13, Brayden Coxson 1-8 2-3 3, Labron Wilder 2-3 0-0 5, Joe Messina 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-44 9-12 47.

SLIPPERY ROCK 44John Sabo 0-2 1-2 1, Ethan Plesakov 9-24 0-0 20, Jacob Wolak 0-5 0-0 0, Dylan Gordon 5-12 0-0 14, Sam Schwartz 2-8 0-0 5, Alex Duffalo 0-3 2-2 2, Walker Vogan 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 17-55 3-4 44.Sharon 10 10 12 15 — 47Slippery Rock10 10 17 7 — 443-point goals: Sharon 4 (Hill 3, Wilder); Slippery Rock (Plesakov 2, Gordon 4, Schwartz)Saturday: Slippery Rock at Grove City