December 3, 2008
Grove City rallies past Geneva in OT
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team earned a 68-64 overtime victory over visiting Geneva Wednesday night in a clash of Presidents' Athletic Conference foes in the Grove City College Arena. It is the Wolverines' fourth straight win overall.
Grove City trailed 57-53 with a minute left in regulation but cut the lead in half on a driving layup by senior guard Ryan Gibson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover). Following a defensive stop by the Wolverines, Gibson tied the game with 4.8 seconds left by drilling a jumper in the lane.
In overtime, Grove City held Geneva without a field goal over the final 4:37 of the extra period. Grove City trailed 60-59 with two minutes left in overtime but took the lead for good on a tip-in by junior center Andy O'Keefe (Perry, Ohio/Perry). With 54 seconds left in overtime, sophomore guard Caleb Orchard (Loudonville, Ohio/Loudonville) swished his fourth three-point goal of the night to give Grove City a 64-60 lead.
Junior forward Ryan King (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) and senior guard Joe McCoy (Newark, Ohio/Newark) both hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
O'Keefe finished with 21 points and eight rebounds while Orchard contributed 14 points and six rebounds. Grove City out-rebounded Geneva, 45-40.
Geneva led 32-25 at halftime and stretched the lead to 39-25 less than two minutes into the second half. However, Grove City surged ahead midway through the half, 45-44, as O'Keefe scored the final six points in an 11-0 run.
Grove City held Geneva to just 25.5 percent (11 of 43) shooting from the field during the second half and overtime. For the game, Geneva shot 33 percent (24 of 73). Grove City converted 25 of 56 (45 percent) shots from the floor. Ten of Grove City's 15 turnovers came in the first half.
Gibson finished with eight points and four assists while King and senior forward John Scheller (Frisco, Texas/Hoover, Ohio) each had three assists. Justin Nardi led Geneva (1-4) with 14 points and seven assists.
Grove City now leads the all-time series 84-67. Geneva is Grove City's most frequently-played opponent. The game does not count in the PAC standings due to Geneva's provisional status in NCAA Division III.
Grove City will visit Westminster Saturday at 4 p.m. in PAC action.
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