NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Four Grove City College men's basketball players scored in double figures Saturday afternoon in the 2021 Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament title game at Westminster but the Wolverines dropped a 73-62 decision to the top-seeded hosts at Memorial Field House. 

Junior guard Isaac Thrasher (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) paced the fourth-seeded Wolverines (8-4) with 15 points, thanks to 5-of-8 marksmanship from behind the three-point line. Senior guard Justice Rice (Monessen, Pa./Monessen), senior guard Erik Meiners (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and junior guard Ben Rose (Helena, Ala./Helena) all added 10 points for the Wolverines. 

Rice became the 31st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. He now has 1,005 points, which is No. 31 all-time at Grove City.

Westminster (11-1) led 28-25 at halftime but opened the second half on a 16-1 run. Grove City did not score from the field in the second half until Thrasher drilled a three-pointer with 12:26 left. 

Grove City cut the lead to 61-53 with 4:23 left when Meiners hit a jumper in the paint. Westminster guard Reese Leone hit a three-pointer on the Titans' next possession, though, re-establishing the double-digit lead. 

Senior forward Joe Meola (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) grabbed eight rebounds for Grove City, helping the Wolverines to a 38-34 edge on the glass. Meiners and Rice both had five rebounds. Westminster entered the game as the NCAA Division III leader in rebound margin at plus-14.0. Grove City ranked second in the nation in that category, entering the game with a plus-13.1 rebound margin for the season.

Grove City shot 23 of 65 (35.4 percent) from the field while Westminster went 22 of 47 (47 percent). Grove City had 12 turnovers while Westminster committed 10 turnovers. 

Rice recorded four assists while Meiners had three assists. Meiners also had three steals. Freshman forward Luca Robinson (Castaic, Calif./Hart) blocked three shots.

Isaac Stamatiades led Westminster with 16 points and 10 rebounds. 

Grove City is now 4-2 all-time in PAC Tournament title games. The Wolverines won the conference tournament in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2020. The previous title game setback came at Bethany 19 years ago. 

Meiners, Meola, Rice, forward Connor Martin (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area) and forward Chris McKrell (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) comprise Grove City's five-man senior class.