BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - The turnaround of the Westminster College men's basketball season continued Wednesday night as the Titans won their third straight game, including their fourth out of the last five, with an 82-77 win at Geneva.
The Titans (5-12), who at one point during the season was 1-11, beat the Golden Tornadoes (4-12) in the 200th all-time meeting between the two teams.
Junior forward Ryne Murray (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) scored a game-high 27 points to lead Westminster. He also tied a team high with seven rounds and handed out a team-best four assists.
Three other Titans scored in double figures, including senior guard Bobby Glass (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) with 17 points to go with three steals.
Also, freshman guard Anthony DeFelice (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary), starting for just the second time this season, posted a career-high 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The other Westminster double-figure scorer was freshman forward Rob Briggs (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) with 10 points and seven rebounds for his fifth game with 10 or more points this season.
Dave Phillips led Geneva with 25 points, including 5-11 shooting from 3-point range, while Richard Colick and Lambros Svingos bucketed 16 points apiece and Brandon Harvey tossed in 12.
Westminster shot 55.2 percent (32-58) from the field including 9-19 from 3-point range, while Geneva shot 42.4 percent (28-66) including 10-24 from behind the arc.
The Titans took an 18-4 lead out of the gates and 47-28 at halftime. The 47 first-half points tied for the most of the season for Westminster. The Titans would lead by as many as 24 points in the second before Geneva mounted a comeback.
The Golden Tornadoes went on a 19-2 run between the 6:30 and 1:27 marks of the second half, but Murray responded by draining a 3-point after a Westminster timeout with 48 seconds remaining. That's as close as Geneva would get in the waning moments as Westminster made 5-6 foul shots while the GTs scrambled.
Westminster returns to action when it hosts Saint Vincent Saturday at 4 p.m.
About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked 15th among liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly 2007 Annual College Guide. Westminster is a national leader 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 368 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 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus.
