GREENVILLE, Pa. (February 14) - Grove City College's J.D. Collar dropped in a game-high 21 points as the Wolverines handed Thiel College a 75-64 defeat Saturday afternoon at Rissell-Beeghly Gym in Greenville.
The Wolverines (11-12, 4-4) took an early 12-5 lead before the Tomcats (8-15, 2-6) used a 11-6 spurt to get to within two (18-16) on a pair of free throws from junior guard Ryan Singleton at the 10:54 mark of the first half.
Grove City outscored Thiel 17-10 over the next 9:21 and went up nine (35-26) on a three by Eric Tinstman before the Tomcats closed the half on a 5-0 run and pulled to within four (35-31) going into the half.
A jumper from senior forward D.J. Gambridge tied the game for the first time at 35-35 with just under a minute gone in the half. An 11-4 Tomcat run over the next 4:20 put Thiel up by seven (46-39) at the 13:49 mark of the second period.
Tanner Prosser's three-pointer tied the game at 46-46 with just over 10 minutes remaining. A three by junior guard Daryl Moore gave the Tomcats a 51-48 lead before Grove City outscored the Tomcats 16-8 over the next 4:34 and grabbed an eight-point edge (64-56) with 3:23 to play. The Wolverines hit seven-of-eight free throws over the final 1:52 in securing the 11-point conference win.
Collar paced all scorers with his 21-point effort. Ryan Eller added 15 points, six rebounds and six assists while Matt Phillips chipped in with 14. Grove City shot 52.1 percent (25-48) from the floor and 60.0 percent (6-10) from three point range on the afternoon.
Senior forward Mike Banach had 12 points and seven rebounds to lead Thiel. Gambridge added 11 points and five rebounds while Moore finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Tomcats shot just 37.5 percent (24-64) from the field hit 26.9 percent (7-26) of their three-point attempts.
The Tomcats return to action at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18 when they host PAC rival Bethany College. Wednesday will also be Senior Night.
Newspaper Box Score Grove City College vs Thiel College 1-14-04 3 p.m. at Greenville, PA -- Rissell-Beeghly Gym At Greenville, PA -- Rissell-Beeghly Gym GROVE CITY COLLEGE 75, THIEL COLLEGE 64 GROVE CITY COLLEGE (10-12, 4-3) J.D. Collar 8-13 3-4 21; Ryan Eller 5-8 4-4 15; Matt Phillips 2-6 10-12 14; Tanner Prosser 3-3 2-3 9; Bobby Glass 2-6 0-0 5; Mike Lukcic 2-7 0-0 4; Eric Tinstman 1-1 0-0 3; Mark Smith 1-1 0-0 2; Chuck Cotherman 1-2 0-0 2; Eric O'Brien 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 19-23 75. THIEL COLLEGE (8-14, 2-5) Mike Banach 5-10 2-3 12; D.J. Gambridge 4-11 3-3 11; Daryl Moore 4-12 1-2 10; Henry Passerello 3-4 0-0 8; Ryan Singleton 3-7 1-1 8; Chris Kwolek 2-6 0-0 5; Stephen Laird 2-8 0-0 5; Percy Sweeting 1-1 0-1 3; Justin Townsend 0-4 2-2 2; Phil Canfield 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 9-12 64. Grove City College............ 35 40 - 75 Thiel College................. 31 33 - 64 3-point goals-Grove City College 6-10 (J.D. Collar 2-3; Ryan Eller 1-2; Tanner Prosser 1-1; Bobby Glass 1-1; Eric Tinstman 1-1; Mike Lukcic 0-2), Thiel College 7-26 (Henry Passerello 2-3; Ryan Singleton 1-4; Daryl Moore 1-4; Percy Sweeting 1-1; Stephen Laird 1-6; Chris Kwolek 1-4; Phil Canfield 0-1; Justin Townsend 0-3). Fouled out--Grove City College-None, Thiel College-Stephen Laird. Rebounds-Grove City College 34 (Ryan Eller 6), Thiel College 32 (Daryl Moore 7; Mike Banach 7). Assists-Grove City College 15 (Ryan Eller 6), Thiel College 15 (Daryl Moore 4). Total fouls-Grove City College 10, Thiel College 17.