GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Thiel College men's basketball team defeated the Grove City Wolverines, 63-61, in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game on Saturday.
 
In the first half, the Tomcats began with three three-pointers to take an early 9-0 lead. Thiel kept its lead for the rest of the half, but Grove City remained close, as the Tomcats led 31-22 at halftime.
 
The Wolverines took their first lead of the game with 58 seconds left in regulation. On the next possession, Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) hit a go-ahead three-pointer from Beni Lavodrama's (Washington, D.C./Phelps ACE) pass to give the Tomcats a 63-61 lead with 23 seconds left. Back on defense, Lavodrama grabbed the rebound after a Wolverine missed jumper to help clinch Thiel's 63-61 victory.
 
The Tomcats outrebounded the Wolverines 48-36 in the victory, including 19-9 on offensive rebounds to earn the Tomcats 20 second-chase points to the Wolverines' six.
 
For the Tomcats, Ahmad Tejumola (Waldorf, Md./Saint Charles) led the team with 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 8-of-10 on free throws and 15 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. Daquan Simmons (Capitol Heights, Md./Central) and John Aarestrup (Miami, Fla./Archbishop Coleman Carroll) tallied double-digit points with 13 and 10, respectively. Lavodrama notched seven points and 11 rebounds. Ellerbee hit the game-winning three, scored seven points, and led the team with four assists.
 
For the Wolverines, Ben Rose scored 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting with six rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and three steals.
 
The Tomcats have won two straight PAC games as they head to Waynesburg to take on the Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.