GROVE CITY, Pa. - The Westminster College men's basketball team remains a half game out of first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings after collecting a key 71-59 win at Grove City Wednesday night. The Titans improve their record to 15-7 and 7-2 in the PAC, trailing only Bethany's league-best mark of 8-2. Grove City (12-10, 5-5 PAC) holds steady in fourth place in the PAC.
The Titans, ranked ninth in the nation entering the week with 88.0 points per game, shortened the game and scored a season-low 71 points to secure the 11-point win. By comparison, Grove City won a high-scoring affair, 101-91, in the teams' last meeting at Westminster on Jan. 17.
Junior guard Craig Hannon (New Castle, Pa./Laurel) led the Titans in scoring for the fifth time this season with 15 points. Senior guard/forward Dom Joseph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) bucketed 14 and senior guard Greg Rosatelli (Clinton, Pa./Hopewell) chipped in with 13 markers.
Sophomore forward Ryan Ricketts (Beaver, Pa./Western Beaver) grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to go with his nine points, as the Titans held a 46-32 rebound advantage.
Grove City's Shawn Carr scored a game-high 23 points as he tied a school record making six 3-pointers.
The Wolverines mounted a nine-point, 26-17 lead in the first half before the Titans cut the deficit to 35-33 at halftime. The score seesawed in the second half as each team held four-point leads before Westminster ran away with the game by going on a 15-2 run that culminated with a 10-point, 65-55 lead with 1:13 left in the game.
Westminster returns to action Saturday, Feb. 10, when it hosts Waynesburg at the Buzz Ridl Gymnasium for a 4 p.m. tip-off.
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.
