Men’s Basketball falls to Grove City at Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. --- Carlow University men's basketball traveled to Geneva College to compete in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Friday evening.

The Celtics opened the classic with an 89-60 loss to Grove City College.

Aleel Batts (Middletown, Pa./Middletown Area HS) and Tomasi Pavihi (Wellington, New Zealand/St. Mary's Ryken HS/College of Marin) led Carlow with 10 points apiece, and Noah Kaniki (London, Ontario, Canada/The Kiski School) dished out five assists in the effort.

Both teams tied the score and achieved marginal leads to start the game. Ahead 17-15, the Wolverines strung together a 16-5 run over the course of six minutes to gain a 13-point advantage over the Celtics. Carlow trailed Grove City by 15 heading into halftime.

The Wolverines went on a 10-0 run in the second half and held the Celtics scoreless for over four minutes before Gavin Moyer (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York HS) sank a three-pointer to break the stalemate. Carlow continued to battle through the remainder of regulation, but Grove City kept its distance until the final buzzer.

The Celtics shot 72 percent (18 for 25) from the foul line, but Grove City shot 45.6 percent (31 for 68) from the field, including 10 treys. The Wolverines outrebounded Carlow 47-29 and scored 24 second chance points to the Celtics' five.

Kyle Randle led the Wolverines with a game-high 23 points, and three different players dished out three assists each.

The Celtics return to Beaver Falls tomorrow to face host Geneva at noon.