January 23, 2016

Vermilya leads Grove City past W&J

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Senior guard Joe Vermilya (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview) scored a career-high 20 points on a career-high six three-pointers and three other Wolverines reached double-figures as the Grove City College men's basketball team rolled to an 85-61 victory over Washington & Jefferson in Presidents' Athletic Conference action on Saturday evening at College Arena.

Vermilya made 7 of 11 field goal attempts and was 6 of 9 from deep in the win. Senior forward Caleb Knudsen (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pius X) and freshman guard Brandon Grider (Canton, Ohio/Glenoak) each added 11 points while sophomore center Cory Huff (Kersey, Pa./Elk County Catholic) chipped in 10.

Vermilya hit a pair of threes to help Grove City (12-5, 7-3 PAC) jump out to an early 15-4 lead. Led by six points from Brian Graytok, the Presidents closed within six at 19-13 with 8:24 remaining, but the Wolverines used another 15-5 spurt to make it 34-18 with 4:10 remaining. Grove City's first-half lead would grow as large as 20 on a three by senior guard Isaiah Reeves (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry) at the 1:45 mark and carried a 42-25 lead into halftime.

Graytok led all scorers with 12 points before the break. Knudsen led the Wolverines with 11 first-half points while Vermilya added eight.

In the second half, Grove City never led by less than 17 and led by as much as 27 late to cruise to the win.

Grove City shot 48 percent (32 of 67) overall and hit a season-high 11 threes in the win while holding W&J to 37 percent shooting (19 of 51). Grove City also out-rebounded the Presidents 44-37, led by eight from sophomore forward Andrew Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby). Beckman also blocked a game-high four blocks.

The Wolverines assisted on 22 of their 32 field goals, with senior Stephen Tam (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) dishing a game-high seven and sophomore guard Seth Muck (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) adding five.

Tam also recorded a game-high four steals.

Grove City hosts Thomas More on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in a battle for second place in the PAC standings.

Box Score