NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - By coming back from a 14-point, second-half deficit, the Westminster College men's basketball team defeated Geneva, 72-69, Wednesday in the Titans' final home game of the season.
The Titans improve to 6-18 on the season while Geneva drops to 17-7. The game did not count in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings because of Geneva's NCAA provisional status.
Sophomore guard Doug Smith (South Park, Pa./South Park) led Westminster with a game-high 23 points, the second-highest total of his career and four shy of a career high.
Other notable scorers for the Titans were freshman guard Christian Shea (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) with 14 points, junior forward Rob Briggs (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) with 12, and freshman guard Anthony Thomas (New Castle, Pa./Union) with nine points to go with a career high-tying four steals and a career high-tying seven assists.
Richard Colick led Geneva with 20 points, followed by Dave Phillips and Brandon Sopko with 12 each.
After Geneva led 41-28 at halftime, the Golden Tornadoes took their largest lead of the game when they led 42-28 with 17:29 remaining.
Westminster then made two runs to come back. First they went on a 14-7 run to draw within seven points at the 12:22 mark. Then, after Geneva went back up 12 with 11:18 to go, Westminster went on a 17-6 run to come within one point at 60-59 with 4:49 remaining.
The pivotal sequence for Westminster occurred when Thomas stole the ball from Phillips and dunked to tie the game at 66-66 with 1:36 left. Then Shea stole the ball after Geneva's in-bounds pass and fed Smith with a lay-up that he made while being fouled. Smith converted the old-fashioned 3-point play to give Westminster a 69-66 lead with 1:15 remaining.
Geneva was forced the foul the rest of the game.
Westminster will travel to Grove City Saturday at 3 p.m. The Titans will be on the road for the PAC Tournament next week at a higher-seeded opponent that is yet to be determined.
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.
