January 11, 2014
Wolverines thump Geneva, 74-56
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team shot a blistering 61 percent from the field and held visiting Geneva to just 33 percent shooting as the Wolverines rolled to a 74-56 Presidents' Athletic Conference victory over the Golden Tornadoes on Saturday afternoon in the Grove City College Arena.
Junior Mitch Marmelstein (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./St. Margaret's) netted a game-high 22 points for the second-straight game on 9-12 shooting to lead the Wolverines (6-7, 3-2 PAC) while fellow juniors Brian Giesler (Harrisville, Pa./Slippery Rock) and J.T. Schwartz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) each added 14.
Both teams struggled to score in the early going, as the Golden Tornadoes (4-10, 0-5) took an early 9-5 lead. The Wolverines would respond with eight-straight points, including consecutive threes by Marmelstein, to retake the lead at 13-9 with 12:45 remaining.
Grove City extended its lead to 17-11 at the 10:02 mark, but the Wolverines would be held scoreless over the next four minutes, allowing Geneva to close the gap to 17-16 with 6:29 remaining.
The Golden Tornadoes would keep the lead at one at 19-18 just 31 seconds later, but Grove City would close the half on a 19-6 run, capped by a pair of Giesler threes and a Marmelstein foul-line jumper in the closing seconds, to lead 38-24 at halftime.
Marmelstein led the Wolverines with 14 first-half points on 6-7 shooting while Jordan Harbison led Geneva with six.
A Harbison three at the 17:54 mark cut the lead to 11 but Giesler would answer with his third triple of the game and Schwartz and Marmelstein each followed with scores to give Grove City it's largest lead at 47-29 with 15:14 remaining.
Geneva would close the score to within 11 on two more occasions, including at 60-49 on a pair of Chaese Vaudrin free throws at the 5:01 mark, but the Wolverines continued their efficient scoring and hit seven of eight free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win.
Harbison led Geneva with 19 points.
The Wolverines return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Washington and Jefferson for an 8 p.m. PAC matchup.
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