February 2, 2008
Grove City rallies past W&J, 62-53
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team outscored visiting Washington & Jefferson 20-4 over the final five minutes Saturday afternoon to earn a come-from-behind 62-53 victory over the Presidents in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at the Grove City College Arena.
Grove City (13-7, 6-2 PAC) trailed 49-42 with 5:15 left before charging back for the win. Senior Bobby Turner (New Castle, Pa./Laurel) started the comeback with his second three-point goal of the game. Senior guard Ryan Gerber (Baltic, Ohio/Garaway) then followed with back-to-back baskets that tied the game with four minutes left.
The Wolverines then surged ahead for good with 2:39 left in the game when junior guard Joe McCoy (Newark, Ohio/Newark) buried a deep three-pointer as the 35-second clock expired. Following a W&J miss, freshman guard Caleb Orchard (Loudonville, Ohio/Loudonville) drained a three that extended the lead to 55-49 with 1:48 left.
In the final minute, sophomore center Andy O'Keefe (Perry, Ohio/Perry) went 4-for-4 at the foul line while Gerber made three of four foul shots. Gerber led Grove City with 17 points while O'Keefe added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. McCoy fired in 11 points, including three three-point goals.
Grove City shot 50 percent (11 of 22) from the field in the second half. Defensively, Grove City limited W&J to a 35-percent effort (10 of 28) from the field in the second half. Grove City held the Presidents (7-12, 3-4 PAC) to just one field goal over the final five minutes.
For the game, Grove City shot 44 percent (20 of 46) from the field while W&J recorded a 20-for-52 (38 percent) effort. W&J out-rebounded Grove City, 33-28. O'Keefe and Orchard both had six rebounds for the Wolverines. O'Keefe also had four assists.
Josip Lucic-Jozak led W&J with 15 points. Wahab Owolabi added nine points and eight rebounds for the Presidents.
W&J led 27-24 at halftime. The victory is Grove City's eighth when trailing at halftime. Grove City committed just eight turnovers.
Grove City is off until next Saturday, when the Wolverines travel to PAC rival Thomas More. Game time is 3 p.m. in Crestview Hills, Ky.
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