President's Athletic Conference

Grove City wins PAC men's hoops title

2/29/2020 11:30:00 PM

PAC All-Tournament Team
GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Top-seeded Grove City College led wire-to-wire Saturday night in an 86-70 victory over No. 5 Geneva College in the title game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. 

Grove City (20-8) won its eighth PAC title and first since 2009-10.   

Saturday was just the second all-time meeting between the longstanding rivals. No. 2 Grove City posted an 81-75 win over No. Geneva in last year's quarterfinal round.

Saturday was the first-ever championship tournament title game appearance for Geneva (14-14).

Grove City will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to this year's Division III Championship Tournament. Forty-three conferences have been granted automatic qualification to this year's 64-team championship. The selected Division III Championship teams as well as the first and second round site selections will be announced Monday, March 2 at 12:30 p.m. (EST) on ncaa.com. First and second round games are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 6-7.

2019-20 PAC Championship Tournament highlights

Saturday, February 29 :: Grove City, Pa. Title game No. 1 Grove City 86, No. 5 Geneva 70 Box Score

Grove City senior guard Nate Peters (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio | Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, led the way in Saturday's win with a season-high 28 points ... He finished 12-of-18 from the field ... Senior forward James Wells (Waterville, Vt. | Worcester Academy) added 18 points and six rebounds ... Freshman forward Josh Bryan (Salem, Va. | Salem) went 3-of-3 from the field and finished with 11 points in 17 minutes ... He also added seven rebounds ...  Geneva senior forward Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa. | Neshannock) led four players in double figures with 20 points and six rebounds ... Sophomore guard Matt Veynovich (Pompano Beach, Fla. | Highlands Academy) had 14 points ... Junior guard Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa. | Butler) and senior forward Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio | Salem) added 11 and 10 points, respectively ... A Moose bucket with 10:56 remaining in the first half cut Grove City's lead to three (23-20), but the Wolverines outscored the Golden Tornadoes 20-5 over the next 7:28 and went into the break leading by 13 (48-35) ... Moose's jumper with under 11 minutes remaining in the second trimmed the Grove City lead to one (60-59) before the No. 1 seed strung together seven-straight points to go up eight (67-59) with 8:29 to play ... Peters closed out the game by scoring seven of Grove City's final nine points ... Peters averaged 17.5 points against Geneva in the two regular season meetings, including a 26-point effort in the Wolverine's 76-71 win in Beaver Falls on Feb. 8 ... Grove City will be making its sixth appearance in the Division III Championship Tournament.

 

Thursday, February 27 :: Grove City, Pa. Semifinal No. 1 Grove City 76, No. 6 Saint Vincent 69 Box Score

Grove City earned its first semifinal win since claiming its seventh PAC title in 2009-10 ... The teams split the regular season series as the home team won each game ... Saint Vincent won in Latrobe, 71-66, on Dec. 7 ... Grove City pulled out a 68-64 home win Jan. 29 ... Senior guard Nate Peters (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio | Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) led Grove City with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists ... Junior guard Justice Rice (Monessen, Pa. | Monessen) added 13 points and seven boards while junior forward Joe Meola (Painesville, Ohio | Lake Catholic) chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds ... Saint Vincent junior guard Cletus Helton (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Seton LaSalle) posted a game-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists ... Junior guard David Stephen (Winter Garden, Fla. | Dr. Phillips) added 18 points and nine boards while junior guard Drew Normandin (Hialeah, Fla. | Hialeah-Miami Lakes) chipped in with 17 points and eight rebounds ... Grove City carried a seven-point lead (34-27) into the half ... Peters' layup with 10:36 to play pushed Grove City's lead to 16 (51-35) ... Stephens capped a 15-3 Saint Vincent run with a pair of free throws with 1:50 remaining to cut the lead to five (60-55) ... A Stevens' three-pointer with four seconds left in regulation trimmed the lead to three (69-66) before Peters sank the front end of a two-shot free throw opportunity to seal the win ... Helton drained a three-pointer as time expired.

 

Thursday, February 27 :: Pittsburgh, Pa. Semifinal No. 6 Geneva 91, No. 2 Chatham 63 Box Score

Geneva secured a spot in the championship tournament's title game for the first time in program history with Thursday's semifinal win ... The 28-point win was the Golden Tornadoes' largest margin of victory this season ... Geneva shot 57.4 percent (31-54) from the floor ... Chatham won both games against Geneva during the regular season, scoring a 10-point win (79-69) on Jan. 15 before its 90-63 win in Beaver Falls on Feb. 15 ... Geneva had six players score in double figures ... Senior forward Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa. | Neshannock) posted his ninth double-double in the win ... He finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds and five assists ... Junior guard Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa. | Butler) scored a season-high 20 points ... Senior forward Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio | Salem) added 16 points and finished 6-of-8 from the floor ... First-year guard Elijah Sutton (Dover, Pa. | Dover) led Chatham with 15 points and nine rebounds ... Junior guard Malik Potter (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Winchester Thurston) added 10 points and six boards ... Geneva jumped out to a 22-6 lead before carrying a 12-point advantage (44-32) into the break ... Geneva never saw its lead shrink below 10 in the second half.

 

Tuesday, February 25 :: Grove City, Pa. Quarterfinal No. 1 Grove City 76, No. 8 Thiel 62 Box Score

Grove City had three players score in double figures Tuesday in its 14-point win ... The Wolverines swept the Tomcats in the regular season, winning the two Mercer County matchups by a combined five points ... Senior guard Nate Peters (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio | Cuyahoga Valley Christian) finished with 19 points while senior forward James Wells (Waterville, Vt. | Worcester Academy) posted 15 points and junior guard Justice Rice (Monessen, Pa. | Monessen) added 12 for Grove City ... The Wolverines shot 53.6 percent (30-56) from the floor ... Grove City finished with a 31-30 rebounding advantage after Thiel owned a 50-24 edge on the glass in the teams' previous meeting 10 days ago ... Thiel senior forward Michael Ricks (Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland School of Architecture and Design) finished with a career-high 29 points ... Senior guard Nyric Gosley (Williamsport, Pa. | Williamsport) added 15 points and four assists.

Tuesday, February 25 :: Pittsburgh, Pa. Quarterfinal No. 2 Chatham 72, No. 7 Waynesburg 64 Box Score

Chatham went into the break sporting a 44-23 lead, but Waynesburg put together a 20-3 run over the first 8:03 of the second half to pull to within four (47-43) on a tip in by senior guard Brennan Smith (New Cumberland, W.Va. | Oak Glen) ... Smith's jumper with 4:21 remaining cut Chatham's lead back down to four (60-56), but a 10-2 spurt allowed the Cougars to push the lead to 12 (70-58) with 55 seconds to play ... Junior guard Malik Potter (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Winchester Thurston) had eight of Chatham's 10 points during the run ... Potter finished with 24 points to go along with eight boards ... He shot 9-of-15 from the field and was 6-of-12 from three-point range ... Potter has scored 20-plus points six times this season ... First-year guard Elijah Sutton (Dover, Pa. | Dover) chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds ... Smith paced Waynesburg with a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double ... It was his fifth of the year ... Sophomore forward Isaiah Alonzo (Chandler, Ariz. | Tri-City Christian Academy) added 19 points and seven rebounds.

 

Tuesday, February 25 :: New Wilmington, Pa. Quarterfinal No. 6 Saint Vincent 88, No. 3 Westminster 78  Box Score

Junior guard David Stephen (Winter Garden, Pa. | Dr. Phillips) scored a career-high 33 points in Tuesday's 10-point win ... He also joined Saint Vincent's 34-member 1,000-point club ... Stephen hit 7-of-9 three-pointers ... Junior forward Shemar Bennett (Lauderhill, Fla. | Nova) registered a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double ... Bennett finished 8-of-12 from the field ... Saint Vincent shot 59.6 percent (34-57) from the floor ... Sophomore guard Andrew Reed (Missouri City, Texas | Ridge Point) pushed Saint Vincent's lead to 10 (58-48) after knocking down a jumper with four minutes gone in the second half, but a 7-0 Westminster run over the ensuing 1:18 cut the visitor's lead to three (58-55) ... Stephen's jumper with 4:14 left in regulation extended the lead to 14 (80-66) ... Saint Vincent unior forward Drew Normandin (Hialeah, Fla. | Hialeah-Miami Lakes) chipped in with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting ... Junior guard Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, Md. | Avalon) poured in a career-high 35 points in the loss ... He added 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year ... It was Stamatiades' second 30-point game of the year ... Senior guard Dylan O'Hara (Girard, Ohio | Girard) added 21 points while senior center Blake Payne (Ashtabula, Ohio | Jefferson) posted 12 points and six boards.

 

Tuesday, February 25 :: Washington, Pa. Quarterfinal No. 5 Geneva 79, No. 4 W&J 77 Box Score

Geneva led by as many as 15 (21-6) in the first half, but W&J responded with a 12-1 run late to cut the lead to just five (32-27) heading into the break ... A pair of free throws by sophomore guard Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va. | Trinity Christian) with 7:12 to play gave the Presidents a 57-55 lead before a 19-10 surge by Geneva, capped by a pair of free throws by senior forward Nick Rusyn (Salem, Ohio | Salem), gave the visitors a 74-67 advantage with 57 seconds remaining in regulation ... Geneva knocked down 7-of-10 free throws in the game's final minute to secure the win ... Senior forward Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa. | Neshannock) led five Geneva players in double figures, finishing with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double ... It was his eighth of the season ... Junior guard RJ Bell (Canonsburg, Pa. | Canon-McMillan) added 14 points and three rebounds while junior guard Joel Stutz (Evans City, Pa. | Butler) totaled 13 points and four boards ... Zini led all scorers with 18 points ... Junior guard Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio | Archbishop Moeller) added 16 points and four rebounds ... Tuesday was W&J's first quarterfinal home game since 2011.