Bison Men’s Hoops Comes Up Short at Grove City

Feb. 17 – GROVE CITY, Pa. – In a game that held seeding implications for the upcoming conference tournament, the Bethany men's basketball team fell short, 61-59, against Grove City on Wednesday night. The two teams entered the matchup in a three-way tie with Thomas More for second place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

The Bison (15-9, 11-6 PAC) went up early on the hosts, using an early 8-0 run to take a 13-5 lead over the Wolverines.

A three from Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) gave Bethany a 10-point advantage (21-11) with 10:06 remaining.

Grove City (17-7, 12-5 PAC) slowly chipped away at the Bison lead for the remainder of the half, narrowing the deficit to three (31-28) at the break.

Eight different Bethany players scored in the first half with Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) and Williams totaling eight points, each.

Grove City controlled the opening minutes of the second period as an 11-4 run, including a deep three from Joe Vermilya, gave the Wolverines a 39-35 lead. Vermilya finished with four triples in the game as Grove City finished 5-of-12 (41.7%) from distance.

Senior Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) put an end to the Grove City spurt with a smooth hook shot from the block, and Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) then converted a three-point play to retake the lead, 40-39, at the 12:38 mark. 

The Bison trailed Grove City 43-41 with 9:03 to go as Rudolph made a contested layup from the left side to tie the game.

Grove City used a 7-2 run to increase their advantage back to seven (50-43) before Chris Harris (Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) knocked down a pair from the foul line with 6:50 to go.

Bethany continued to fight and hang around, even as Grove City went up seven (59-52) with 2:20 remaining.

Rudolph responded with a quick layup and Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) calmly sank both attempts from the foul line to draw within three (59-56).

The Wolverines extended their advantage back to five before Javonte Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) hit a triple to bring Bethany back within one possession (61-59) with 38 seconds remaining.

The Bison defense locked down when it had to, forcing a steal with 10 seconds left. However, a last-second attempt from Harper wouldn't fall as Grove City held on for the 61-59 victory.

Offensively, three Bison finished in double figures. Rudolph scored a game-high 16 points, Williams finished with 11, and Jones added 10.

Harris led the Green & White with eight boards as all nine players who logged time recorded at least one rebound.

Bruster amassed two blocks and three steals as Bethany forced 15 turnovers in the contest.

The Bison will finish their regular-season schedule as they take on Washington & Jefferson at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 20. Bethany will celebrate Senior Day at the start of the contest.