The Presidents (7-12, 5-1 PAC), who extended their win streak to three games, have won six of eight contests since the start of the new year. The 5-1 conference start is W&J’s best since the 1994-95 season.
The Wolverines (7-12, 3-3 PAC) ran out to an 8-4 lead in the first four minutes behind six points by Mark Smith, but a 9-0 President rally gave the hosts a 13-8 lead at the 12:07 mark. Freshman guard Scott Oklin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Allderdice) led the spurt with five points.
W&J held the five-point lead until Studer and junior forward Matt Vorndran (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) drilled back-to-back triples in the final three minutes to push the Presidents’ halftime lead to 29-21.
Washington & Jefferson out-scored the Wolverines, 23-10, over the first 10 minutes of the second half to assume a 52-31 cushion. Studer scored 10 of his 17 points during the stretch which sealed the win for the Presidents.
Studer hit 7-of-15 shots from the field and added five assists, while Koch connected on 6-of-8 attempts and pulled down five rebounds. Freshman center Josip Lucic-Jozak (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) finished with 12 points and seven boards, while Oklin netted a career-high 10 points.
The Presidents totaled 20 assists and forced 16 GCC miscues.
Smith was the only Wolverine in double figures with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Grove City made 44 percent (22-of-50) of its shot attempts, but only 1-of-10 from three-point range.
W&J returns to action on Saturday evening when it travels to PAC-rival Waynesburg at 7:30 pm.