February 17, 2016

Wolverines hold off Bethany, 61-59

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team improved to 17-7 overall and 12-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference by pulling out a 61-59 home win Wednesday night over Bethany at the Grove City College Arena.

Bethany (15-9, 11-6 PAC) had the final possession of the game but Alan Harper's 30-foot heave at the buzzer missed after Grove City defended a sidelines out-of-bounds play with one second remaining.

Senior guard Joe Vermilya (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview) fired in 16 points, including 4-of-5 marksmanship on three-point goals, to lead Grove City. Sophomore forward Andrew Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) added 11 points and sophomore center Cory Huff (Kersey, Pa./Elk County Catholic) contributed 10 points for Grove City, which rallied from a double-digit deficit for the win.

Bethany led 21-11 midway through the first half but Grove City whittled the lead to 31-28 by halftime. Grove City surged ahead, 37-35, on a Vermilya three-pointer early in the second half. The Wolverines took the lead for good with 8:45 left on a layin by sophomore center Jon Grim (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk). Grim's basket sparked a 7-0 run that put Grove City up 50-43.

In the second half, Grove City held Bethany to an 8-for-28 (29 percent) shooting effort. For the game, Bethany finished 21 of 57 (37 percent). Grove City went 22 of 58 (38 percent) for the game.

Grove City also owned a 43-36 edge in rebounds as senior guard Stephen Tam (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) pulled down eight boards. Vermilya and Beckman both had three assists.

Antonio Rudolph led Bethany with 16 points.

Grove City recorded its first season sweep of Bethany since the 2009-2010 season. The Wolverines' 12 conference wins are the most in program history. Grove City is 6-1 this year in games decided by four points or less.

Grove City closes the regular season Saturday at 3 p.m. against visiting Thiel. It will be Senior Day for the Wolverines.

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