NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - Westminster clinched the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in next week's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Basketball Tournament with a 102-90 win over Bethany Saturday at the Buzz Ridl Gymnasium.
The game pitted two teams tied for first place in the PAC. Westminster finishes the regular season with an 18-7 record and a 10-2 mark in the PAC, while the Bison wrap up their slate 18-7 overall and 9-3 in the league.
The Titans had three 20-point scorers as senior guard Greg Rosatelli (Clinton, Pa./Hopewell) and junior guard Craig Hannon (New Castle, Pa./Union) each scored 25 points, while senior guard/forward Dom Joseph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) bucketed 21.
Hannon (21) and Rosatelli (19) accounted for 40 of the Titans' 52 second-half points, after the Titans led 50-43 at halftime.
Rosatelli was 14-of-16 from the free-throw line, dished out a game-high six assists and nabbed a game-high four steals.
Hannon, who caught fire as he was 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the second half, led the Titans seven rebounds for the game.
Brody Jackson and Chris Stephens led the Bison with 21 and 20 points, respectively, while James Wallace snared a game-high nine rebounds to go with his 17 points.
Bethany held a 42-34 rebound advantage. The Titans shot better, however, making 52.6 percent (30-57) of its shots from the floor including 43.5 percent (10-23) from 3-point range. Bethany shot 43.8 percent (32-73) and 30 percent (9-30) from behind the arc.
The Bison led 6-0 to start the game, but trailed by six points (14-8) at the 15:00 mark of the first half. Westminster led by as many as 14 points in the first half and 18 points in the second half. The closest Bethany could draw was six points with 18:00 left in the second half before the Titans held double-digit leads the final 16:41 of the game.
Westminster will host a semifinal round game Thursday at 7 p.m. against the lowest seeded winner from Tuesday's first round games.
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked among national leaders in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 361 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and was recognized by the Templeton Guide as a "Character Building College."
Nearly 1,600 students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty, while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa. campus.
