January 11, 2012
W&J edges Grove City
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson guard Zach Bellhy scored a layup off a baseline drive with 4.3 seconds left Wednesday night to lift the visiting Presidents to a 67-66 win over the Grove City College men's basketball team in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at the Grove City College Arena.
Bellhy's basket offset Grove City's furious second-half comeback. The Wolverines trailed 58-41 with nine minutes remaining before embarking on a 25-7 run. Freshman center Josh Eberly (New Providence, Pa./Solanco) started the comeback with a three-point play.
Grove City closed the lead to 62-53 with three minutes left on a steal and layup by freshman guard J.T. Schwartz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler). Forty seconds later, freshman guard Mitch Marmelstein (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./St. Margaret's) drained a three-pointer.
Marmelstein's three with two minutes left brought the Wolverines to within 64-61 and on the Wolverines' next possession, senior guard Brett Matson (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) tied the game with a three-pointer. Grove City then took a 66-65 lead with 20 seconds left on a layup by junior forward Nate Rambacher (Newmanstown, Pa./Eastern Lebanon).
Bellhy's layup put W&J ahead, though, and Schwartz's off-balance heave at the buzzer fell short.
W&J (6-9, 2-4 PAC) led by as many as 20, 35-15, in the first half but Grove City (6-8, 2-4 PAC) whittled the lead to 38-24 by halftime. Marmelstein, Matson and freshman Christian Durbin (Harmony, Pa./Seneca Valley) all hit three-pointers in the final two minutes of the half.
Marmelstein led Grove City with 23 points. His six three-point goals tied Grove City's single-game record. Matson added 14 points.
Rambacher led Grove City with nine rebounds, helping the Wolverines own a 38-33 edge on the glass. Schwartz recorded six assists.
Grove City shot 24 of 60 (40 percent) for the game while W&J went 23 for 51 (45 percent). The Presidents shot 8 for 15 (53 percent) on three-pointers while Grove City made 11 of 29 (38 percent) three-point attempts. Bellhy led all scorers with 33 points. W&J went 13 for 20 at the foul line and Grove City made seven of 14 free throw opportunities.
Marmelstein is the fourth Grove City player to hit six threes in one game, joining Matson (2011), Shawn Carr (2007) and Mark Timko (1994). Seven of Grove City's last 14 games have been decided by four points or less and two other games went to overtime.
Grove City will visit conference foe Waynesburg Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
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