February 1, 2012
Wolverines rally past Geneva, 76-74; Matson scores 1,000th
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team rallied from a double-digit deficit to pull out a 76-74 victory over archrival Geneva Wednesday night in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Geneva's Metheny Field House.
Senior guard Brett Matson (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) became Grove City's 25th all-time 1,000-point scorer when he hit two foul shots with 3.9 seconds left to give Grove City a 76-71 lead. Matson now has 1,001 career points.
Meanwhile, freshman guard Mitch Marmelstein (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./St. Margaret's) fired in a career-high 27 points and senior center Kris Verderber (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) poured in a career-high 23 points for the Wolverines.
Marmelstein broke a 71-71 tie with 27 seconds left as he drained a three-pointer from the left wing off an out-of-bounds play. The Wolverine defense turned back Geneva on its subsequent possession and after a timeout, Matson sealed the win with his two free throws.
Marmelstein put Grove City ahead 47-45 with a three-pointer at the 14:46 mark of the second half. The three came during Grove City's 14-4 run, which also featured a three-pointer from senior Cody Fleeger (Butler, Pa./Butler) and baskets from freshman guards Christian Durbin (Harmony, Pa./Seneca Valley) and Josh Patterson (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette).
The Wolverines never trailed the rest of the game although Geneva forged six ties. Durbin hit a three with 1:23 left to put Grove City up 71-68 but Geneva's Drew Santarsiero tied the game with a three-pointer of his own.
Geneva led by as many as 12, 34-22, in the first half before the Wolverines closed the half on an 8-2 run. The Wolverines tied the game at 42 on Verderber's jumper four minutes into the second half.
Grove City shot 60 percent (18 of 30) from the floor in the second half and went 29 for 55 (53 percent) for the game. Geneva converted 27 of 55 (49 percent) field goal attempts, including a 12-for-22 effort on three-pointers.
Matson led Grove City with six rebounds and four assists. Geneva owned a 31-29 rebound advantage. Dave Phillips led Geneva (5-15, 4-8 PAC) with 21 points. The Wolverines forced 16 turnovers while committing only 11. Durbin added nine points for the Wolverines.
Grove City (8-12, 4-8) will host Westminster Saturday in conference action at 3 p.m. It is Hall of Fame Day at Grove City.
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 (2006-10 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
25-BRETT MATSON (2008-) 1,001
Go back to Wolverine Basketball Home Page