DURHAM — On a night when two of their players reached season-highs in points scored, the Person Rocket boys were bested at the foul line in a 74-59 Piedmont Athletic Conference defeat at the hands of the Jordan Falcons Tuesday night at the Jordan High School gym.

Despite 26 points from Tony Winstead and 22 from Monroe Faulkner, Person suffered a big disadvantage from the charity stripe, as Jordan ended up attempting 20 more free throws.

The margin was 28-8 to be exact in favor of the home team, which made good on 23 of its 28 freebies.

Person head coach Charles Dacus said the reason for the discrepancy was mostly because of Jordan’s aggressiveness going to the hoop.

“They were attacking the basket more than we were, causing us to play defense and foul a lot,” he said. “I thought we played hard tonight and battled. The main thing is they got to the line and converted their shots.”

Jordan’s star guard Justin Watts ended up tied with Winstead for game’s high scorer with 26 points (he attempted 16 free throws), and Will Bunton added 10. The Falcons, who started off the seaon 0-4 in the PAC-6, improved to 7-6 in conference play and have their sights set on a Division 4A playoff berth.

Meanwhile, the last-place Rockets (2-11), who lost to Jordan by 10 points back on Jan. 11 at Rocket Gymnasium, will need to pull off a stunning first-place finish in next week’s conference tourney to earn a spot in the postseason.

Not a likely scenario at this point given Person’s present shortage of manpower (three regulars lost since January) and the absence of guard Alex DeVaughn, who also missed last Friday’s game at Southern Durham due to an off-court issue. DeVaughn will be back in uniform for Friday’s regular-season finale at home.

Falling behind by a 37-24 margin at the half on Tuesday, the Rockets managed to pull within single digits in the second half, but still trailed 53-42 after three periods and, once again, could not catch the high-flying Falcons.

Aside from Winstead and Faulkner, only two other Person players made the scoring column.

Mark King, who has made a strong contribution since seeing more action in the second half of the season, collected seven points.

“Now that we’ve got some guys out, he’s gotten more playing time and he’s made the most of it,” said Dacus.

Center Mike Williams finished with four points. No other Rocket entered the scorebook.

One of Person’s biggest strengths was also kept at bay on Tuesday, as the Rockets, who have often out-rebounded opponents this season, mustered just 23 boards, a low total for them.

“They did a real good job of limiting us to one shot. We didn’t get many second attempts tonight,” Dacus said.

Winstead accounted for most of Person’s board work with 11 rebounds. Williams and Faulkner chipped in with three each.

Faulkner sank five 3-pointers in the contest, and the Rockets hit on three of their eight foul shots.

The Rockets, now 9-13 overall, will try to earn their first home victory in PAC-6 play this season when they take on the Hillside Hornets in the final regular-season game Friday night at Rocket Gymnasium. Person knocked off the Hornets, 69-62, in overtime the first time the two teams met.

JVs routed by Jordan

No Rocket player reached double figures, as the Person boys’ junior varsity team was beaten soundly by the Falcons, 76-41, on Tuesday.

The loss dropped the Rockets to 3-10 in the conference.

Mike Blackwell led the way for Person with seven points, followed by six from Anthony Winbush and five from Jonathan Allen.

The Rocket JVs end their season for good Friday night against Hillside.