November 19, 2011
Grove City holds off UPG
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team earned a 59-58 victory over Pitt-Greensburg Saturday afternoon in the second day of action at Geneva College's "Coaches vs. Cancer" Tournament in Metheny Field House.
Grove City (2-1) led wire-to-wire but had to hold off a late UPG charge to secure the victory.
Senior center Kris Verderber (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) led Grove City with 14 points while freshman guard J.T. Schwartz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) and junior forward Nate Rambacher (Newmanstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon) both added 10 points.
The Wolverines took early control of the game by jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes. Grove City boosted its lead to 20-7 on a Schwartz layup with 11:26 left in the first half. Grove City led by as many as 15, 37-22, in the first half before Pitt-Greensburg slashed the lead to 37-27 by halftime.
Grove City led 58-50 with 2:44 left but Pitt-Greensburg rallied with a 7-0 run. Grove City clung to 59-57 lead with seven seconds left when Pitt-Greensburg's Brock Witkowski split a pair of foul shots. Following an offensive rebound on the second shot, Mike Pearson missed two free throws. Pitt-Greensburg's Anthony Papini rebounded the second miss but Schwartz stripped him as time expired, preserving the win.
Grove City held Pitt-Greensburg to 37 percent (22 of 59) shooting from the field. Grove City went 21 for 50 (42 percent) from the floor. Rambacher and senior guard Brett Matson (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) both grabbed eight rebounds. UPG held a 38-36 edge in rebounds. Witkowski led Pitt-Greensburg (2-1) with 21 points.
The Wolverines will host Kenyon Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in non-conference action.
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