BETHANY, W.Va. -- For a third straight year, the Westminster College men's basketball team's season ended with a loss at Bethany College's Hummel Field House. The No. 6-seeded Titans lost to the No. 3-seed Bison, 90-58, in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday night. The Titans lost at Bethany last year in the quarterfinals and in 2009 in the semifinals.
Westminster finishes its season with a 7-19 record, while Bethany, now 19-7, travels to No. 2-seeded Saint Vincent Thursday at 7 p.m.
Bethany shot nearly twice as efficient as the Titans. The Bison shot 61.1 percent (33-54) from the floor, a season high for Westminster opponents, compared to Westminster at a season-low 31.8 percent (21-66). Bethany shot better than any Westminster opponent since the Titans allowed Saint Vincent to shoot 62.1 percent on Jan. 26, 2008, and Tuesday night was Westminster's lowest shooting percentage since Marietta limited the Titans to 29.6 percent on Dec. 29, 2008.
Freshman guard Christian Shea (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) led the Titans with 14 points including 4-7 shooting from 3-point range and 5-10 overall from the floor. Sophomore guard Liam Halferty (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) came off the bench and bucketed a season-high 12 points for the Titans. Halferty scored in double figures for the first time all season and came two points shy of tying a career high.
Freshman guard Anthony Thomas (New Castle, Pa./Union) led the Titans with four assists to go with seven points, while junior forward Rob Briggs (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch), who will finish his engineering degree at Pitt next year, led the Titans with six rebounds to go with two points in the final game of his three-year career as a Westminster starter.
Reece Mabery led Bethany with 19 points on 7-13 shooting from the floor, followed by British Alexander with 13 and Brady Pacific and Dustin Opalka with 10 apiece.
Westminster led 18-8 six and a half minutes into the game, but Bethany ended the first half on a 39-5 run to hold a 24-point, 47-23 lead at halftime.
The Bison led by no fewer than 21 points in the second half and by as many as 34 points.
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.
