Box Score

GREENVILLE, Pa. – AJ Forbes waited until the final second of play to score his second field goal of the day, draining a 27-foot three pointer as time expired to lift the Tomcat men's basketball squad to an 80-78 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory over visiting Grove City College Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Gymnasium.

Forbes, just 1-for-5 from the field and 0-for-3 from three-point range prior to the game winner, was the recipient of an Anthony Harvey (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) assist on the shot, which countered a Brett Matson layup that put Grove City (11-13, 7-9 PAC) ahead 78-77 with five seconds remaining. Forbes finished with five points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Thiel (16-7, 13-3 PAC) saw four players achieve double figure scoring, led by Harvey's 22-point, five-rebound, four-assist effort. Blair Rozenblad (Youngstown, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) added 16 points and 16 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season despite being held scoreless in the opening half. Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) added 15 points and five assists while Ladell Trotty (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran East) totaled 11 points and 13 rebounds, his first double-digit rebounding effort since securing 19 in Thiel's 56-49 win at Grove City on January 18.

Thiel shot 44.9 percent (31-69) from the field and was limited to just 11-of-21 (52.4%) from the free throw line.

Mitch Marmelstein had a team-high 20 points to lead Grove City. Brett Matson added 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists while Kris Verderber and J.T. Schwartz added 11 and 10, respectively. As a team the Wolverines finished the day shooting 45.8 percent (27-59) from the floor.

Trailing by six, 26-20, with 4:30 to play in the first period the Wolverines outscored the Tomcats 12-4 over the ensuing 2:54 to grab a 32-31 advantage with 1:36 left in the half. Trotty knocked down a big shot of his own to end the first, hitting a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give Thiel a 34-32 lead heading into the break.

The Wolverines broke a 58-58 tie with an 8-1 run and led by seven, 66-59, with 5:37 to play in the second. The Tomcats answered with an 11-4 burst over the next 4:13 to force the half's sixth tie at 70-70.

Grove City battled to jump back in front by six, 76-70, with 26 seconds to play but a Trotty tip in and a Rozenblad three-point play saw Thiel trim the lead to just one, 76-75, with 19 seconds remaining.

A Marmelstein turnover and ensuing foul on Rozenblad led to a pair of free throws with 13 seconds on the clock. Rozeblad, a 66.4 percent free throw shooter, buried both to put the homestanding Tomcats in front 77-76.

Matson broke loose down the lane and threw in a runner with five seconds remaining to put the Wolverines back in front by one, 78-77, but as is typical with Tim Loomis and his Tomcats, a time out was not called for, which lead to the unopposed inbounds pass from Rozenblad to Harvey who hit the streaking Forbes down the right side of the court for the game winner.

Thiel will wait until the conclusion of PAC play this evening to determine its seeding in the 2012 Championship Tournament.