January 20, 2016

Grove City outlasts Bethany, 76-70

BETHANY, W.Va. -- Four Grove City College men's basketball players scored in double figures Wednesday night to lift the Wolverines to a 76-70 win at Bethany in Presidents' Athletic Conference play at Hummel Field House.

Sophomore center Cory Huff (Kersey, Pa./Elk County Catholic) paced Grove City with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Senior guard Joe Vermilya (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview) fired in 14 points while senior guard Stephen Tam (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) and junior forward Tyler McGrath (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) both added 10 points.

Grove City shot 52 percent (27 of 52) from the field for the game, including a 15-of-27 effort in the second half. Defensively, Grove City limited Bethany (10-6, 6-3 PAC) to 22 of 66 (33.3 percent) shooting from the floor.

Grove City took the lead for good down the stretch with a 7-0 run after Bethany had tied the game at 59. Sophomore forward Andrew Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) closed the run with a three-point play at the 2:44 mark of the second half.

Bethany pulled to within 68-63 but a Vermilya three-pointer with 1:22 left helped secure the win.

Grove City (11-5, 6-3) led 31-28 at halftime and opened the second half with a 9-0 spurt. Bethany countered by scoring nine straight points and the Bison later took a 53-52 lead on an Alan Harper three-point goal with seven minutes left.

Beckman and senior Caleb Knudsen (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pius X) both grabbed seven rebounds for Grove City. Bethany outrebounded Grove City, 42-36.

Beckman also had five assists while Tam and Vermilya each had three assists. Huff blocked two shots.

Grove City will open the second half of the conference schedule Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at home against Washington & Jefferson.

Box Score