WOOSTER, Ohio – For just the second time in school history, the Elmhurst College men's basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Championship after defeating Grove City 84-66.

Elmhurst won back-to-back games in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history (the 2001 Sweet 16 team earned a first round bye). The Bluejays improved to 25-5 overall while Grove City finished the season at 21-9.

Elmhurst and Grove City traded buckets and leads for the first 10 minutes of the contest. With the score even at 16-16, Derek Dotlich drained a three-pointer to put Elmhurst up by three. The Bluejays would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game. Leading 27-23 with four minutes left in the half, the Bluejays scored the next seven points to extend their lead to 11. Grove City pulled to within nine on two occasions, but the Bluejays carried a 38-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Bluejays shot 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the floor in the half and connected on six three-pointers. Jake Rhode dropped in 16 in the opening half, shooting 6-of-10 from the field.

Grove City scored the first two points of the second half but the Wolverines would not get under a double digit deficit for the remainder of the game. Dotlich drained a three-pointer and Rhode hit a driving layup to extend Elmhurst's lead to 14. The Wolverines cut the Bluejays' lead down to 11 on four occasions, but the Bluejays slowly began to pull away. Leading by 12 with 10 minutes remaining, the Bluejays used an 11-5 run over the next five minutes to open up an 18-point cushion at 74-56. The Bluejays led by as many as 19 points before closing out the 18-point win.

Elmhurst finished the game shooting 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the floor, including 37.1 percent (13-of-35 from beyond the arc. The Bluejays held a slight edge in rebounding at 42-39. Playing predominantly a zone defense, the Bluejays kept Grove City off balance most of the night. The Wolverines shot just 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from the floor, including 24.2 percent (8-of-33) from three-point range. Grove City entered the contest averaging just 12 three-point attempts per game, but lifted over half their shots (33) from deep against the Bluejays' defense.

Rhode had a hot hand all night long, finishing with a game-high 33 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. He shot 12-of-21 from the floor, including 6-of-13 from three-point range. With his four assists, he tied Erik Stark's career assist record with 387. Dotlich added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Bluejays. After not attempting a shot in the opening half, Lavon Thomas finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor in the second half. Jay Militello added eight points while Hunter Merritt came off the bench to score six.

Grove City was led by Nate Peters's 19 points and five rebounds. James Wells totaled 16 points for the Wolverines while Justice Rice and Erik Meiners totaled eight points apiece.

Elmhurst will face Pamona-Pitzer in next weekend's Sweet 16 matchup. Pamona-Pitzer drained a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat Emory University. The location, date and time will be announced later this weekend.