February 20, 2007
Wolverines run past Waynesburg into PAC semifinals
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Five Grove City players scored in double figures Tuesday night as the fourth-seeded Wolverines stormed past visiting Waynesburg, 89-60, in a Presidents' Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament quarterfinal at the Grove City College Arena.
Grove City (14-12) advances to Thursday's semifinals and will play at top-seeded Westminster at 7 p.m. Waynesburg, the fifth seed, finishes the season 12-13.
Senior forward Mark Smith (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) fired in 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting while senior center Craig Hallman (Ellwood City, Pa./Riverside) recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Junior guard Ryan Gerber (Baltic, Ohio/Garaway) drained three three-point goals as part of his 13-point night while junior guard Shawn Carr (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) drilled four threes and finished with 12 points. Carr also set a new Grove City single-season record with 53 three-pointers this year.
Also for the Wolverines, sophomore guard Joe McCoy (Newark, Ohio/Newark) poured in a career-high 10 points. He added had four assists and no turnovers in 16 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Ryan Gibson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) handed out eight assists for the Wolverines.
Grove City shot 70 percent (14 of 20) from the floor in the second half and finished 32 of 54 (59 percent) from the floor for the game. Grove City also made 13 of 25 three-point attempts in the game and out-rebounded Waynesburg, 43-17.
Grove City closed the first half on a 9-3 run and led 45-33 at the intermission. Carr hit a pair of threes to ignite the run while Gerber swished a three-pointer with six seconds left in the half to cap the outburst. The lead grew to 51-35 in the second half before Waynesburg charged back with an 11-0 run. Senior guard Beau Wilson scored 10 straight points for Waynesburg in the run. He led all scorers with 15 points.
Smith drilled back-to-back threes for Grove City, however. Junior guard Joe Capotosta (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) added his third three-pointer of the night moments later and Grove City led 60-46 with 12 minutes left.
Waynesburg jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. Grove City took its first lead of the game, 15-13, on back-to-back threes by Capotosta.
Grove City limited Waynesburg to just 29 percent (7 of 24) shooting from the floor in the second half. The Wolverines had lost five straight to Waynesburg, including a 67-60 loss in the 2006 PAC quarterfinals. Grove City had lost three straight PAC Tournament games, dating back to 2004.
Grove City is averaging 91 points per game over its last three games. The Wolverines have won their last two games by a combined 65 points. It is Grove City's largest back-to-back margin of victory total since 1962, when Grove City defeated Allegheny (104-45) and Clarion (90-61) by 88 total points.
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