February 14, 2004
Grove City rallies past Thiel, completes season sweep
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Led by 21 points from junior guard J.D. Collar (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) and a 15-point, 6-assist effort from junior forward Ryan Eller (Erie, Pa./Iroquois), the Grove City College men's basketball team improved to 5-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference with a come-from-behind 75-64 win at Thiel Saturday afternoon.
Grove City (11-12, 5-3 PAC) led by as many as nine (35-26) in the first half before the Tomcats (8-15, 2-6 PAC) charged ahead with an 18-2 run that overlapped into the second half.
Thiel held a 51-48 lead with eight minutes left but Grove City took the lead for good on consecutive baskets from Eller in the paint. Sophomore guard Matt Phillips (Bainbridge, Ohio/Kenston) drained a pair of free throws and junior guard Mike Lukcic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) added a backdoor lay-up.
Collar and Eller then broke the game open with back-to-back threes that extended Grove City's lead to 64-56 with three minutes left.
In the second half, Grove City sank 17 of 20 (85 percent) foul shots. Phillips, who finished with 14 points, made 10 straight free throws in the second half. Collar and Eller each converted a pair of foul shots in the final minute to seal the win.
Senior forward Tanner Prosser (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) added nine points for Grove City and moved into ninth place on Grove City's all-time list with 1,196 points. Prosser passed Bill Fox (1975-79) for ninth place Saturday.
Grove City out-rebounded the Tomcats 34-32. Mike Banach led Thiel with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Grove City will visit Waynesburg Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
GROVE CITY'S 1,000-POINT CLUB
1-Jeff Claypool (1965-69)
2,234
2-Bob Crow (1979-83) 1,450
3-Joe Buckley (1985-89) 1,413
4-John Cochran (1966-70) 1,352
5-Mark Timko (1991-94) 1,255
6-Fred Schwab (1970-74) 1,215
7-Deron Ryan (1984-88) 1,205
8-Tim Mokma (1987-91) 1,197
9-TANNER PROSSER (1999-2003) 1,196
10-Bill Fox (1975-79) 1,192
11-Tom Robinson (1957-62) 1,181
12-Mark Smith (1979-83) 1,171
13-Jim Wherley (1993-97) 1,162
14-Bart Niemeyer (1958-62) 1,145
15-Benjamin Davis (1990-94) 1,094
16-Dave Marovich (1962-65) 1,072
17-Ron Arrington (1962-66) 1,069
18-Mike Donahoe (1975-79) 1,051
19-Dan Von Handorf (1992-96) 1,029
20-Dutch Leonard (1955-59) 1,013
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