Wolverines beat national runner-up, win HoJo Classic
GROVE CITY, PA, December 29, 2001--Senior Pat Roberts (Home, PA/Marion Center) and sophomore Phil Bushre (Swartz Creek, MI/Swartz Creek) fired in 14 points apiece as the Grove City College Wolverines defeated William Paterson University (NJ), 60-53, in the championship game of the 2001 Howard Johnson Holiday Classic Saturday afternoon at the College Arena.
With the victory, the Wolverines extended their winning streak to three games and improved to 8-3 overall. The Pioneers, who lost to Catholic University in the 2001 Division III national championship game, fell to 5-6.
After building a 28-26 halftime lead, Grove City was held scoreless through the first five minutes of the second half. The Wolverines, however, limited William Paterson to just a single field goal in the same span.
Sophomore Ian Dean (Damascus, MD/Damascus) drilled a three-pointer at the 7:15 mark which broke a 41-41 deadlock -- the sixth tie of the second half -- and the Wolverines never trailed again. They led by as many as seven points, 55-48, before the Pioneers cut it back to two, 55-53, with 1:40 left. Sophomore Tanner Prosser (Pittsburgh, PA/Brentwood) countered with a lay-up at 1:10 to make it 57-53 and GCC shut down WPU the rest of the way.
Prosser garnered the tournament's Most Valuable Player Award after closing with eight assists, including four in a four-minute span that helped the Wolverines take the lead for good. Prosser posted a team-high 15 points and 12 boards in the 75-64 first-round victory over Penn State Altoona.
Bushre hit 5 of 7 shots from the floor and added seven rebounds in the championship game to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Bushre tossed in 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting Friday night.
Roberts was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line and recorded five boards and three blocked shots.
Dean chipped in with nine points, going 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
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