Beaver Falls to Grove City
Beaver - 69, Grove City - 78
Monaca, PA -- Beaver sits at 1-1 on the season after losing to Grove City.
In the opening minutes of the game, Beaver fell behind 6-0 and played from behind for the next four minutes. At the 13:12 mark, John Foster hit a pivotal jump shot to bring Beaver within four (15-11). After giving up a layup to fall behind by six, Dominque Fletcher made a layup of his own to bring the game back within reach. The trend continued, with Beaver persiting and fighting to gain an edge. Key shots from Andrew Brady and Eric Gallupe kept the game within four points with just over six minutes to play. At 4:18 an Eric Gallupe jumper brought Beaver within one of Grove City after Beaver's defense got them back into the game. Beaver then took their first lead of the game with three minutes to play in the first half on a Dominique Stevenson layup. A tie game with two minutes remaining (29-29), Grove City took a four point lead with just thirty seconds left in the half. A pair of Gallupe free throws got Beaver within two of the tie, and a quick thinking rebound by Foster at the buzzer tied the game at 33-33 going into halftime.
To open the second half Grove City took a small lead (39-36) and worked through the first five minutes to grow their lead to almost ten at the 14:19 mark. Beaver's defense battled and the Lions pushed their way back to within four points of Grove City over the next two minutes (50-46). A DJ Austin jumper with 10:44 remaining got Beaver within two (54-52) and a Foster jumper tied the game at 54 with just under ten minutes to play. Despite the best defensive effort by the Lions, Grove City wore them down defensivly and took an 11 point lead with five minutes remaining. Beaver ran out of steam in the final minutes and were not able to make the push like that had twice before and fell by a final score of 78-69.
Leading the offense for Beaver was Foster with 18 points and 3 rebounds. He was followed by Stevenson with 16 points and Austin who had 14 points and 7 assists.
The Lions now sit at 1-1 on their young season and will return to action this weekend as they travel to Westminster to face Thiel on Saturday, November 18th in the Westminster tournament.