December 7, 2011
Wolverines rally to stun Saint Vincent
LATROBE, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's basketball team earned its first Presidents' Athletic Conference victory of the season Wednesday night as the Wolverines rallied from a 31-23 halftime deficit to topple Saint Vincent (5-2, 1-1 PAC) 58-54 in the Carey Center.
Grove City's iron-clad defense limited Saint Vincent to just 21 points and a 7-for-28 (25 percent) shooting performance from the field in the second half. Meanwhile, the Wolverines opened the second half on a 15-4 run. Freshman guard Rob Zewe (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) helped ignite the run by scoring five straight points and senior center Kris Verderber (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) tied the game at 33 with a three-point play.
Grove City (4-3, 1-2 PAC) took a 36-35 lead with 11:54 left when freshman guard Mitch Marmelstein (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./St. Margaret's) buried a three-point goal. The Wolverines maintained the lead for the next 10 minutes but Saint Vincent pulled into a 51-51 tie on Isaac Turner's three-point play with two minutes left.
However, Marmelstein put Grove City ahead to stay with another three-pointer after receiving a feed from Verderber. Verderber and Marmelstein both hit two foul shots in the final 20 seconds to help sew up the victory.
Verderber led Grove City with 11 points while Marmelstein and freshman J.T. Schwartz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) each had 10. Freshman center Josh Eberly (New Providence, Pa./Solanco) added nine points off the bench.
Grove City shot 34 percent (20 of 59) from the field while holding Saint Vincent to a 19-for-58 (33 percent) effort. Grove City also dominated on the glass, owning a 45-36 rebound edge. Seventeen of the 45 rebounds came at the offensive end. Senior guard Brett Matson (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) pulled in eight rebounds while Schwartz and junior forward Nate Rambacher (Newmanstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon) both had seven rebounds.
Matson also had three assists and three steals. Schwartz also had three assists.
Turner led Saint Vincent with 18 points. The Bearcats had been 3-0 at home this year.
Grove City hosts archrival Geneva Saturday at 3 p.m. in conference play.
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