NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The top-seeded Westminster College men's basketball team was eliminated from the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament Thursday night with an 86-67 semifinal loss against No. 4 Grove City at the Buzz Ridl Gymnasium.
The Titans (18-8) now await a potential bid for either the NCAA or ECAC South Division III tournaments, which will be announced next week. Grove City (15-12) will play at No. 3 Washington & Jefferson, Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC championship game.
Westminster senior point guard Greg Rosatelli (Clinton, Pa./Hopewell) led all scorers with 23 points to go with a game-high five assists, while sophomore forward Steve Bielich (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) deposited 18 points to go with his team-high nine rebounds.
Mark Smith led Grove City with 20 points, followed by Shawn Carr and Ryan Gibson with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Carr and Craig Hallman also snared a game-high 13 rebounds as the Wolverines held a 43-28 rebounding advantage over the Titans.
Grove City shot 54.2 percent (26-48) from the floor, including 50 percent (11-22) from 3-point range, while the Titans were 35.4 percent (23-65) from the field and 28.1 percent (9-32) from behind the arc.
Westminster led for exactly 14 seconds during the game as the Titans went up 37-36 with 19:49 remaining in the game, shortly after the teams were tied, 36-36, at halftime. Grove City then went on a 16-3 run to lead 52-40 with 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Wolverines poured it on as their lead grew to 16 points (64-48) with 6:43 to go and 19 points (70-51) with four minutes left before taking their largest lead of the game with a 20-point, 77-57 advantage with two minutes remaining.
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.
