December 1, 2008
Wolverines put clamps on W&J
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team opened Presidents' Athletic Conference play Monday night by rolling to a 58-44 victory over visiting Washington & Jefferson at the Grove City College Arena.
Grove City (3-1, 1-0 PAC) held W&J to just 29 percent (17 of 58) shooting from the field Monday night. The 44 points are the fewest surrendered by Grove City since yielding 28 points to D'Youville Feb. 17, 1999. It is also the first time since a 49-48 win at Thomas More Jan. 20, 2007 that the Wolverines held a team to less than 50 points.
Senior guard Ryan Gibson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) fired in 16 points for the Wolverines while senior guard Joe McCoy (Newark, Ohio/Newark) added 11 points. Grove City shot 24 of 47 (51 percent) from the field, including a 6-for-13 effort behind the three-point line.
Grove City scored the final five points of the first half in taking a 32-21 halftime lead. Junior center Andy O'Keefe (Perry, Ohio/Perry) scored after a steal at midcourt while Gibson followed with a three-pointer. The Wolverines then extended the lead to 40-23 with an 8-2 run at the outset of the second half.
W&J eventually slashed the lead to 50-40 with 6:47 left. However, Gibson hit a pullup jumper and McCoy followed with a three-pointer. Defensively, Grove City held W&J without a field goal over the final 5:21 of the game.
O'Keefe added nine points and a pair of steals. Gibson and O'Keefe both had three assists. Gibson also tallied a team-high six rebounds. W&J out-rebounded Grove City, 37-31.
Brian Felker and Matt Drakeley each scored eight points for W&J.
Grove City has won 14 straight regular season home games against W&J. The Wolverines will host Geneva Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
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