February 24, 2009
W&J clips Grove City, 74-68
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team saw its bid for the Presidents' Athletic Conference title come to an end Tuesday night as the fifth-seeded Wolverines dropped a 74-68 decision to host Washington & Jefferson in the quarterfinal round of the PAC Championship Tournament at the Henry Memorial Center.
Grove City (12-12) trailed 36-25 at halftime but eventually whittled the lead to 47-43 with 11:30 left after freshman guard Brett Matson (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) sank a pair of free throws.
W&J (17-9) still led by seven, 68-61, with less than two minutes left before the Wolverines mounted a final charge. Senior guard Joe McCoy (Newark, Ohio/Newark) buried a three-pointer that trimmed the lead to four. On Grove City's next possession, McCoy hit a pair of free throws to cut W&J's lead to 68-66 with 37 seconds left.
However, the fourth-seeded Presidents warded off Grove City's comeback effort by hitting six consecutive free throws in the final 25 seconds.
McCoy led Grove City with 19 points while senior guard Ryan Gibson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) fired in 17 points. Matson and junior center Andy O'Keefe (Perry, Ohio/Perry) each added 11 points. Grove City matched a season-high with 13 three-point goals. McCoy hit five threes while Gibson and Matson each sank three-pointers. Grove City also committed a season-low eight turnovers.
The Wolverines shot 23 of 56 (41 percent) from the field while W&J shot 45 percent (25 of 56). Josip Lucic-Jozak led the Presidents with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Brian Felker added 16. W&J out-rebounded Grove City 40-25. Matson led Grove City with six boards. He also had four assists.
McCoy finished the season with 46 threes, which is the fifth-highest single-season total in program history. His 93 career three-pointers rank sixth all-time. Gibson finished with 321 assists, the fourth-most in program history. He finished his career with 1,066 points, which is 20th on Grove City's all-time scoring list.
W&J advances to Thursday's semifinals. The Presidents will play top-seeded Thomas More at 7 p.m.
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-Shawn Carr (2004-08) 1,121
16-Benjamin Davis (1990-94) 1,094
17-Dave Marovich (1962-65) 1,072
18-Ron Arrington (1962-66) 1,069
19-Ryan Eller (2001-05) 1,068
20-RYAN GIBSON (2005-09) 1,066
21-Mike Donahoe (1975-79) 1,051
22-Dan Von Handorf (1992-96) 1,029
23-Dutch Leonard (1955-59) 1,013
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