BLUFFTON, Ohio -- The Westminster College men's basketball team lost to host Bluffton, 80-60, Thursday afternoon in the championship game of the Bluffton McDonald's Holiday Tournament. The Titans (3-9) led briefly halfway through the second half before Bluffton (8-3) outscored Westminster 29-10 in the final 8:14 including a 20-2 run.
Freshman guard Christian Shea (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) led the Titans with 12 points, while sophomore forward Adam Carswell (Painesville, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) came off the bench to score nine points and grab a game-high nine rebounds.
Junior forward Rob Briggs (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) sank eight points to go with seven rebounds for Westminster.
Junior guards Andy Timko (Hubbard, Ohio/McDonald) and Anthony DeFelice (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary) represented Westminster on the all-tournament team after they scored career highs of 21 and 17 vs. Pitt-Greensburg Wednesday.
Tournament MVP Mychal Hill led Bluffton in the championship game with a game-high 22 points. Brent Farley also scored 17 points to go with a team-high six rebounds, while Rob Luderman and Josh Johnson bucketed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Bluffton led by as many as 11 points (39-28) in the first half, but the Titans came back and tied the game at 39-39 with an 11-0 run that concluded with Nick Lee's lay-up with 14:02 remaining, giving the Beavers a 41-39 lead.
Westminster held a pair of one-point leads at the 11:25 and 10:09 marks, but after Hill and Shea exchanged 3-pointers, the latter pulling the Titans within one point at 51-50, Bluffton made its big run.
The Beavers went on a 20-2 run that started at the 8:14 mark and did not end until they held a 19-point, 71-52 lead with 2:48 remaining. The Titans shot 1-7 from the field and 0-1 from the free-throw line during that stretch, while Bluffton was a perfect 5-5 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and 8-8 from the free-throw line.
Westminster returns to conference play when it hosts Waynesburg Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m.
About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College ranks first in the nation as "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math," according to Forbes.com. Westminster is a top tier liberal arts college, a national leader in graduation rate performance, and a "Great School, Great Price," according to U.S. News Best Colleges guide. Westminster ranked 38th among liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly College Guide, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 373 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and is named to the President's Honor Roll for excellence in service learning.
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. Visit www.westminster.edu/advantage to view "Advantage: Westminster" A Strategic Plan 2010-2020.
