UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - The Westminster College men's basketball team led by as many as 13 points in the second half of their first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament first-round game Thursday night at John Carroll. The Titans (18-9) came just shy of tying the Blue Streaks (20-9) with one second remaining before suffering the 87-83 season-ending loss.
Westminster had possession of the ball, down 85-83 with a chance to tie the game with six seconds remaining as it inbounded the ball beneath its own basket. After the Titans advanced the ball the length of the floor, senior guard/forward Dom Joseph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) had an open lane to the bucket before being called for a charging foul with 0.9 on the clock.
JCU's Peter Moran sank two foul shot at the other end as the home-standing Blue Streaks, ranked No. 25 by d3hoops.com, escaped a win in front of a capacity crowd of 1,307 at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
Westminster senior point guard Greg Rosatelli (Clinton, Pa./Hopewell) led the Titans with a career-high 27 points and 11 assists on 9-17 shooting from the floor.
Senior guard Nick Adams (Huntsburg, Ohio/Cardinal) and junior guard Craig Hannon (New Castle, Pa./Union) scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, despite neither player scoring a in the game's final 10 minutes.
After a sluggish start by both teams that included JCU taking a 4-0 early lead and Westminster taking over the lead, 6-4, with 16:15 remaining in the first half, the Titans led 39-28 at halftime before taking their largest lead of the game (41-28) in the opening minute of the second half.
The Blue Streaks then tied the game five times before taking over the lead with 4:44 to go in the game. JCU went up by as many as seven points when Terry Walsh scored two of his game-high 29 points for the Blue Streaks with a lay-up giving his team an 83-76 advantage with 2:49 remaining.
Rosatelli drew Westminster within two points with 42 seconds remaining and John Carroll missed a 3-pointer to set up the game's decisive play with Moran taking the charge on Joseph.
Westminster shot 43.5 percent (30-69) from the floor, including 32.4 percent (11-34) from 3-point range, while JCU was 42.3 percent (30-71) and 26.1 percent (6-23) from behind the arc.
The Blue Streaks held a 50-35 rebounding advantage, thanks to a game-high 15 rebounds from JCU senior center Brandon Mimes who also scored 16 points.
John Carroll advances to play at Lake Erie (25-2) Saturday at 7 p.m. Westminster concludes its most successful season since 2001 and its first appearance in a national tournament since 1996 when the Titans went to the NAIA National Tournament.
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.
