BETHANY, W.Va. - The Westminster College men's basketball team came up shy in the final minute in its season-ending 71-67 loss at Bethany Thursday night in the semifinal round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament.
The No. 3-seeded Titans finish the season with a 10-17 record, while No. 2 Bethany (17-10) advances to the PAC finals Saturday at top-seeded Thomas More.
After 22 lead changes and 15 tie scores during the game, Westminster had possession and down 69-67 with exactly one minute remaining. The Titans missed four 3-pointers on their final possession, including two after a timeout with 41 seconds left. Junior center Steve Bielich (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) attempted the last of the four from behind the arc, which was rebounded by Bethany's Joe Testa. Testa knocked down two free throws to seal the win. Bielich finished with four points and nine rebounds.
Junior forward Ryne Murray (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) bucketed a game-high 31 points - one shy of a career high - to lead Westminster. Murray also snared a team-best 14 rebounds. Murray was 12-21 shooting from the field including 7-13 from 3-point range.
Other notable scorers for Westminster included senior guard Bobby Glass (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) and sophomore guard Max Spinner (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton) with nine apiece.
Lance Beckwith led the Bison with 26 points, including 10-10 from the foul line, while Petre Petkovski bucketed 17 and Testa sank 12.
Westminster shot 43.3 percent (26-60) from the field, including 30 percent (9-30) from 3-point range. Bethany shot 43.4 percent (23-53) from the floor. The Titans committed 16 turnovers to Bethany's 11.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half. Murray hit a fade-way jumper with 4:45 left in the first half to give the Titans a 26-24 lead before draining a 3-pointer a minute later to put Westminster back up by one, 29-28. Bethany led by as many as four points in the first half and held a one-point, 34-33 halftime lead.
After Bethany took a seven-point, 55-48 lead with 10:11 left in the second half, Westminster went on a 9-0 run to take a three-point, 57-55 lead with 8:38 to go in the game. Spinner culminated the run by draining a go-ahead 3-pointer.
Westminster went up by as many as four points with 4:40 to go, but Bethany came back and took a four-point lead when Petkovski sank a 3-pointer to give the Bison a 69-65 lead with 1:49 on the clock.
The Titans could not come back despite drawing within two points in the final minute.
Murray finishes the season with 282 rebounds, the third most by a Titan in a season all-time. The record is 294 by Greg Foster in 2002-03. Murray enters his senior season ranked 28th on Westminster's career scoring list with 1,139 points.
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.
