BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Grove City College converted a few free throws in the final minute of action to preserve a narrow 69-67 win over Kenyon College (0-2) Friday night during the Geneva College Tournament. Caleb Knudsen and Seth Muck each tallied a pair from the charity stripe to keep the Lords from prevailing in the non-conference game.
 
Tim Connolly led all scorers with 19 points including an 8-for-9 clip at the free throw line. The senior also added four rebounds and a pair of assists and steals. Freshman Matt Shifrin added 16 points off the bench while Alexander Powell contributed six points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists. Three other Lords players tallied at least four points. As a team, Kenyon hit 24-of-28 from the free throw line (85.7%).
 
The Wolverines opened the game with a 9-0 run as Knudsen capped things off with a layup at the 17:42 mark. Kenyon's slow start was erased, however, as they reeled off a 15-4 stretch to take its first lead of the game. GCC retook the lead for good (17-15) after a pair of free throws from Gabe Goode with about nine minutes left in the half.
 
Grove City saw its lead expand to as many as 10 points (34-24) following a Cory Huff three-ball with 2:58. But once again, Kenyon responded and cut the double-digit deficit down to three at the half (36-33) after Alex Laub buried two free throws.
 
In the second half, Connolly gave the Lords the lead again early as he scored a layup and brought the count to 37-36.
 
After that, both teams battled back and forth. Shifrin's three-pointer moved the Lords ahead 43-41 and on the ensuing possession, Grove City's Stephen Tam hit a long ball to put the Wolverines back up.
 
That shot from beyond the arc sparked a 9-0 run for GCC and they went ahead by seven, 50-43 with 11:51 left.
 
Kenyon fought back to pull within one (50-49) after Shifrin hit two free throws, but the visitors from Gambier couldn't get over the hump as Knudsen hit the next two Wolverine baskets to put GCC back up five.
 
The Lords pulled to within one point a few more times in the final five minutes of the game, but again, did not find anything after that. Connolly hit a layup to bring the score to 59-58 at the 4:27 mark, and later Shifrin's three-pointer pulled the score to 66-65 with 31 ticks left. The Lords added two more free throws from Connolly, but with only two seconds left, they couldn't get another offensive possession and fell 69-67.
 
Kenyon is back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. and will face host Geneva.