Slippery Rock boys basketball drops regional clash with rival Grove City
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Slippery Rock guard Doug Popovec (3) drives through Grove City defenders toward the basket in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Slippery Rock guard Max Kovacik (2) attempts a layup against Grove City in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Slippery Rock's Josh Book (43) shoots a layup against Grove City in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Slippery Rock defender Braden King (22) defends against a Grove City playere late in the fourth in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Slippery Rock guard Max Kovacik (2) steal the ball from a Grove City player, leading to a fast break in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Slippery Rock cheerleaders clap for the Rockets against Grove City in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Players on Slippery Rock's bench clap for their teammates against Grove City in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
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Grove City defeated Slippery Rock 47-40 in a boys basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at Grove City High School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle
GROVE CITY — Nathan Greer and Ben Fischer showed up big in the final minutes and sprung Grove City boys basketball to a 47-40 win over rival Slippery Rock on Saturday night..
Greer was kept in check during the first half with just three points on two trips to the charity stripe and one bucket at Grove City High School. Keeping the other team’s star player from taking over the game was a point of emphasis for the Rockets (11-7, 3-3 District 10 Region 4).
“We’ve really focused on some of the sets that they run and talked about them in our shoot-around this morning,” Slippery Rock head coach AJ Motta said. “Our zone is kind of compact, so we were able to put some bodies in areas where we thought he might be and usually cuts to. We were able just to clog up some of those spots that he normally gets good looks from.”
But Greer tallied 13 second-half points, including a big put-back on a late free-throw try that went a long way toward sealing the game.
“I told Nathan, I said, ‘You had glimpses of your old sophomore year going back to where you had to scratch and claw to try to get your points as a sophomore,’ and he did that tonight in a big way,” Grove City head coach Chris Kwolek said.
“He’s a hustle player, he’s earned every point that he’s gotten and he’s done it the old-school way.”
Fischer was not too far behind his production, finishing with 14 points after a seven-point fourth quarter.
Josh Book had another strong outing, totaling nearly half of the Rockets' 40 points with 17.
The game was within reach for both sides most of the night. It was tied at 11 after the first quarter, but a Max Knouse 3-pointer in the final minute of the half gave the Eagles (14-4, 4-2) a 23-20 advantage heading into the break.
Slippery Rock scored 12 points in the third quarter to get within 33-32. But Grove City saved the best for last though, scoring 14 points to pull away.
“Back-to-back nights now where we were in a position to close a game out and don’t hit those shots. We got some really good looks, just a couple didn’t fall,” Motta said.
“There’s no off days here in this region.”
Slippery Rock 11 9 12 8 — 40
Grove City 11 12 10 14 — 47
Slippery Rock 40
Max Kovacik 4 0-0 9, Doug Popovec 0 0-0 0, Braden King 2 0-0 4, Fred Campagna 1 0-0 3, Anderson Franco 2 2-2 7, Josh Book 8 0-1 17, Connor Zorn 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 2-3 40
Grove City 47
Christian Kurz 3 0-0 6, Nathan Greer 6 4-9 16, Daniel Mariacher 1 0-0 3, Max Knouse 3 0-0 8, Nick Earman 0 0-0 0, Ben Fischer 4 6-8 14. Totals 17 10-17 47
3-point goals: Slippery Rock 4 (Kovacik, Campagna, Franco, Book); Grove City 3 (Mariacher, Knouse 2)
