February 19, 2005
Bethany trims Grove City
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team closed the 2004-05 regular season Saturday afternoon with a 78-71 home loss to Presidents' Athletic Conference rival Bethany (22-3, 9-1 PAC). Grove City will enter next week's PAC Championship Tournament at 13-11 overall and 6-4 in the PAC. The Wolverines are the second seed in the tournament and will host a semifinal game Thursday night, Feb. 24.
Senior center Phil Bushre (Swartz Creek, Mich./Swartz Creek) posted a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double to help lead the Wolverines while senior point guard Mike Lukcic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) added a dozen points. Senior forward Ryan Eller (Erie, Pa./Iroquois) chipped in 10 points.
Bethany, the top seed in next week's PAC Tournament, led by as many as 12 in the first half and broke the game open with a 14-4 run early in the second half. However, the Wolverines battled back and eventually pulled to within 73-69 on a Bushre layup with 33 seconds left.
Bethany's Chris Stephens helped seal the win, though, by draining five of six free throws in the closing moments.
Grove City shot 51 percent (27 of 53) from the floor and held a 35-30 edge on the glass. Matt Drahos led the Bison with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Jim Deep added 16 points, including five three-point goals.
Bushre, J.D. Collar (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson), Eller, Lukcic and Matt O'Brien (Reading, Pa./Exeter) were honored before the game as part of Senior Day activities.
GROVE CITY'S 1,000-POINT CLUB
1-Jeff Claypool (1965-69)
2,234
2-Bob Crow (1979-83) 1,450
3-Joe Buckley (1985-89) 1,413
4-John Cochran (1966-70) 1,352
5-Tanner Prosser (1999-2003) 1,263
6-Mark Timko (1991-94) 1,255
7-Fred Schwab (1970-74) 1,215
8-Deron Ryan (1984-88) 1,205
9-Tim Mokma (1987-91) 1,197
10-Bill Fox (1975-79) 1,192
11-Tom Robinson (1957-62) 1,181
12-Mark Smith (1979-83) 1,171
13-Jim Wherley (1993-97) 1,162
14-Bart Niemeyer (1958-62) 1,145
15-Benjamin Davis (1990-94) 1,094
16-Dave Marovich (1962-65) 1,072
17-Ron Arrington (1962-66) 1,069
18-Mike Donahoe (1975-79) 1,051
-RYAN ELLER (2001-present) 1,051
20-Dan Von Handorf (1992-96) 1,029
21-Dutch Leonard (1955-59) 1,013
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