MEN'S BASKETBALL Grove City rallies past Thiel

The Wolverines, who dominated the first half, had to fight off the Tomcats.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- After a team posts an impressive win in its last outing and then goes on the road, you never know how it is going to react.
On the heels of a 100-95 win over previously-unbeaten (in league play) Westminster Wednesday night, the Grove City College men's basketball team took its show on the road to Rissell-Beeghly Gymnasia and defeated Thiel 75-64 Saturday.
Grove City (11-12, 5-3) never trailed in the first half and led by as many as eight on three occasions.
With Ryan Eller and Matt Phillips both in foul trouble, Grove City coach Steve Lamie had to go a little deeper into his bench than normal.
"Eric Tinstman hit a big 3 for us and I was just really happy to see him have the opportunity to play," Lamie said. "He works so hard in practice and today, he got his six minutes of fame and made the most of the opportunity."
Leading the Wolverines in that first 20 minutes was J.D. Collar, who had 11 points at halftime before finishing with a game-high 21.
"I just try to take what they give me, and I really don't know why, but in the first half today, the game just seemed to come to me," said Collar. "Sometimes they pick up different guys and that leaves other guys open. Today I was able to get open a few times."
Tomcats rally in second half
After trailing all the way during the first 20 minutes, the Tomcats (8-15, 2-6) made things interesting in the opening five minutes of the second half. A 13-2 run had them go from four down to seven up (44-37).
"I am extremely pleased with this win, especially with what happened during the first five minutes of the second half," said Lamie. "Thiel took it to us at that point in the game and they had the momentum.
"A month ago, we might have folded our tents and packed it in, but I think it was just a sign of us being more mature to deal with the situation."
With his team facing the seven-point deficit, Lamie called a timeout. Following that break, the Wolverines scrapped back to get even at 48-all before outscoring the Tomcats 27-16 over the final eight minutes for the win.
Tough down the stretch
After being held to just two points in the first half, Eller stepped up down the stretch to finish with 15 points, including a huge 3 with three minutes left.
"I only played six minutes because I got into foul trouble," explained Eller about the first half. "But when I was in, we just weren't in sync on offense. It took us about 10 minutes to get in the groove and by that time I was out of the game."
As for hitting the big 3, Eller said it was just a matter of getting into the flow of things.
"I just started feeling a lot more comfortable and Matt Phillips just made a great pass to me," said Eller. "He had a pull-up jump shot, but he kicked it to me. I was wide open and fortunately I was able to hit it."
For Thiel, Mike Banach tossed in 12 points, while D.J. Gambridge chipped in with 11 and Daryl Moore added 10.