'On This Day' Taylor Leads Men’s Basketball Team Past Grove City

'On This Day' is a Wells College Athletics feature series taking a look back on events that occurred on this day, Nov. 17, eight years ago in 2012.

ERIE, Pa. – Paced by E.J. Taylor's 18 points, the Wells College men's basketball team recorded a 78-75 victory over the Wolverines of Grove City College Saturday afternoon, Nov. 17, 2012, on the campus of Penn State Behrend.

With three seconds remaining in the first half, the Wolverines went ahead by a 39-38 lead, but the back-and-forth pace of the game continued into the second half with Grove City taking a game-high 10-point lead early through the second.

The Express rallied and rattled off nine points to cut the Wolverines lead to one midway through the half. In keeping with the back-and-forth battle, however, two-consecutive  3-point baskets by Grove City once again lifted them to a seven point lead with just under nine minutes remaining in regulation time.

With both teams virtually trading points with time winding down, the Wolverines once again possessed a six-point margin with 5:33 left in the second half. A J.J. Walton layup preceded a Walton jumper cut the lead to two at 4:32. The big play in the contest came with just over four minutes left in regulation time, as a Hood 3- point basket granted the Express the lead late.

From that point, the Express did not relinquish the lead. With 21 seconds remaining, the Express were able to ward off a strong charge by the Wolverines, but two missed 3-point baskets with time winding down guaranteed the first victory on the 2012-13 season for Wells College.

Taylor earned All-Tournament Team honors with his performance over the weekend, culminating with an 18-point performance this afternoon. Shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, Taylor becomes only the fifth Express player to maintain a perfect free throw percentage (min. six free throws made) in one game. The last time an Express player was perfect from the free throw line was Dave Foltz, who was 9-for-9 at the free throw line against Keuka College on Feb. 18, 2012.

Walton was a team leading 7-for-8 in field goals for the Express en route of a 17-point performance in only his second game in an Express uniform. Walton was also 3-for-3 at the line for the Express and chipped in a team-best four assists. Hood, who poured in the go-ahead three pointer, posted a 12-point performance, chipping in two steals and a team-leading eight rebounds.

Boxscore: https://www.wells-express.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/boxscores/20121117_xz8e.xml?view=boxscore