March 5, 2010
Wooster tops Grove City in NCAA Tournament
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Grove City College men's basketball team wrapped up the 2009-2010 season Friday night with a 63-52 setback against host Wooster (24-5) in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament at Timken Gymnasium. Grove City concludes the season with a 19-9 record.
Grove City limited Wooster to just 34 percent (21 of 62) shooting from the field in Friday night's game. The Wolverines also committed just 12 turnovers, including two in the second half. However, Wooster owned a 48-29 edge in rebounding and also drained nine three-point goals.
Sophomore guard Brett Matson (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) fired in a game-high 18 points and also hauled in career-high 11 rebounds for Grove City. Senior center Andy O'Keefe (Perry, Ohio/Perry) added 10 points for the Wolverines.
Grove City trailed 29-20 at halftime but made several runs at Wooster in the second half. Wooster extended its lead to 13 on three occasions in the second half. Brandon Johnson's three-point goal with six minutes left gave Wooster a 52-39 lead.
The Wolverines made one final charge at the Scots, however. Senior guard Joe McCoy (Newark, Ohio/Newark) drilled a three-point goal and Matson followed with a pair of free throws. Grove City pulled to within 56-49 on a layup from junior forward Luke Tomaselli (Cresson, Pa./Penn Cambria) with 2:49 left. However, Grove City misfired on its next six shots from the floor down the stretch and Wooster sealed the win with 7-for-8 marksmanship at the foul line.
For the game, Grove City shot 18 of 50 (36 percent) from the floor. McCoy finished with eight points while Tomaselli had three steals.
Bryan Wickliffe led Wooster with 12 points and 15 rebounds while Ian Franks had 12 points and 11 boards. Johnson finished with nine points and seven assists. Eighteen of Wooster's 48 rebounds came at the offensive end of the floor.
Grove City had not played in the NCAA Tournament since 1989. Wooster is in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive season. Wooster will face Wisconsin-Whitewater Saturday at 7 p.m. in the second round of the tournament. UW-Whitewater clipped Defiance 75-71 in Friday's first game.
McCoy, O'Keefe and senior guard Andrew DiDonato (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) will be lost due to graduation. O'Keefe's 490 points this year are the seventh-most in program history. He finished with 1,164 career points, 13th-most in Grove City history.
Grove City's 19 wins this year are the most for the Wolverines since the 1988-89 team won 20 games.
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-Tanner Prosser (1999-2003) 1,263
6-Mark Timko (1991-94) 1,255
7-Fred Schwab (1970-74) 1,215
8-Deron Ryan (1984-88) 1,205
9-Tim Mokma (1987-91) 1,197
10-Bill Fox (1975-79) 1,192
11-Tom Robinson (1957-62) 1,181
12-Mark Smith (1979-83) 1,171
13-ANDY O'KEEFE (2006-) 1,164
14-Jim Wherley (1993-97) 1,162
15-Bart Niemeyer (1958-62) 1,145
16-Shawn Carr (2004-08) 1,121
17-Benjamin Davis (1990-94) 1,094
18-Ryan Gibson (2005-09) 1,079
19-Dave Marovich (1962-65) 1,072
20-Ron Arrington (1962-66) 1,069
21-Ryan Eller (2001-05) 1,068
22-Mike Donahoe (1975-79) 1,051
23-Dan Von Handorf (1992-96) 1,029
24-Dutch Leonard (1955-59) 1,013
Go back to Wolverine Basketball Home Page