SLIPPERY ROCK — Cam Neal receives the same thrill when he takes a charge on the basketball court that he gets when he brings down a quarterback on the football field.

The 6-foot-2 senior center has shown a penchant for doing a lot of both this school year for Slippery Rock High.

“It's kind of like getting a sack. You take a hit and get up screaming,” Neal said, smiling.

Slippery Rock has brought a football mentality to playing basketball defense this season.

It makes sense. All five starters played football this fall for the Rockets, who finished off a second-consecutive 10-0 regular season.

That success has carried over to the hardwood this winter where the defense has spurred on a four-game winning streak for Slippery Rock.

Not just good defense. Great defense.

Slippery Rock has held three of its last four opponents to fewer than 30 points during its winning streak. Kittanning was the only team to top 29 points — it scored just 40.

For the season, the Rockets (5-4) have held teams to less than 30 points four times in nine games and are giving up just 41.7 points per contest.

“I'm really proud of this,” Neal said. “Defense has to be a constant. If we play good defense and finish our shots, we should win every game.

“Since the first week,” Neal added, “it's been all about defense.”

The concern this season was about where the points were going to come from.

Seniors Brady Kadlubek and Jake Whitmer and sophomore Ryan Dutton each averaged between 10.9 and 10.1 points per game last season. Still, Slippery Rock has only cracked 50 or more points two times this season.

“I think you have to be able to defense,” said Slippery Rock coach Phil Bushre. “Early, we weren't making a lot of shots, but we were still in games. When we got to the first practice, we said the defense had to be the constant, and it has. One thing is, we play good team defense. All positions can guard. It's not like we have guards who can guard or bigs who can guard, they all can guard.”

That has made life very difficult on Slippery Rock's opponents.

Knoch saw that first hand Friday night.

The Knights managed just 13 points through the first 24 minutes and were held scoreless in the third quarter.

“They played good defense,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb after the 49-29 loss. “Surprisingly, I thought our bigs got a little bit out-physicalled (Friday night), which I haven't seen all year.”

That's the blueprint the Rockets would like to follow, Whitmer said.

It starts with a familiar refrain: “defense,” Whitmer said, “has to be the constant.

“We like (to hold teams under) 30,” Whitmer added. “We work on defense a lot. You talk about everyone buying in — this is a special group. We're trying to change the culture of Slippery Rock basketball and it starts with defense.”