January 15, 2005
Wolverines rally past Westminster in PAC opener
GROVE CITY, Pa. – Senior center Phil Bushre (Swartz Creek, Mich./Swartz Creek) fired in 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out a career-high eight assists while senior forward Ryan Eller (Erie, Pa./Iroquois) added 20 points on 6 of 8 shooting to help the Grove City College men's basketball team rally past Westminster, 94-86, Saturday afternoon at the Grove City College Arena in both teams Presidents' Athletic Conference opener.
Grove City (8-7, 1-0 PAC) closed the game with a 14-3 run over the final 3:30. The Wolverines had led by as many as 12 in the second half before the Titans (10-5, 0-1 PAC) rallied. Westminster led by as many as six, 82-76, with 4:34 left before Grove City made its final charge.
Freshman Shawn Carr (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) started the run with a pair of free throws while a Bushre putback tied the game at 83. Another Bushre layup with one minute left broke an 86-all tie while a pair of free throws from junior Matt Phillips (Bainbridge, Ohio/Kenston) doubled the lead. Senior J.D. Collar (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson), who finished with 19 points, added a layup in the final seconds.
Grove City held a 45-34 edge on the glass and limited Westminster's wide-open offense to just 26 percent shooting (15 of 57) beyond the arc. Grove City, meanwhile, made 34 of 56 attempts (61 percent) from the floor. Bushre had four steals while Collar blocked two shots. The Wolverines also made 23 of 27 free throws.
Mark DeMonaco led the Titans with 21 points while Ed Pagley added 13. Grove City has won two straight over Westminster. The Wolverines have won 11 straight regulation games when scoring at least 90 points.
The Wolverines visit Waynesburg Wednesday night at 7:30 in PAC action.
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