January 18, 2014
Grove City holds off Thiel, 57-54
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team improved to 4-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference by pulling out a 57-54 win at Thiel in Rissell-Beeghly Gymnasia Saturday afternoon.
Thiel had a chance to tie the game on its final possession of the game but three-pointers by Josh Johnson and Charlie Thomas both missed.
Junior guard Mitch Marmelstein (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./St. Margaret's) fired in a game-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead Grove City. Marmelstein scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, helping Grove City charge to a 34-21 halftime lead.
Thiel opened the second half with an 18-4 run and took a 39-38 lead. Grove City reclaimed the lead for good, 43-41, when freshman center Luke Tincha (Butler, Pa./Butler) drilled a jumper with 10:44 left.
Tincha followed with a pair of free throws two minutes later, boosting the lead to four.
Junior forward Brian Gielser (Harrisville, Pa./Slippery Rock) added nine points on three three-point goals.
Grove City shot 48 percent (20 for 42) from the field. The Wolverines went 8 for 16 from behind the three-point line. Grove City limited Thiel to a 20-for-57 (35 percent) shooting performance.
Junior guard J.T. Schwartz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for Grove City. Thiel outrebounded Grove City, 30-29. Marmelstein and Schwartz both had three assists.
Eric Mallinger led Thiel (4-9, 1-6 PAC) with 13 points and nine rebounds. Thiel had won each of the last nine meetings in the series.
Grove City (7-8, 4-3) will host Westminster Wednesday night at 7:30 in conference action. Wednesday's game will conclude the first half of the conference schedule.
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