LATROBE, Pa. – The Westminster College men's basketball team won, 62-59, at Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Saint Vincent College Saturday evening.
The win marked the Titans' first over the Bearcats since 2010.
The first half consisted of four ties and eight lead changes. Westminster (18-7, 12-6 PAC) had its largest lead of six points twice with the latest coming when junior
African Grant II (Warren, OH / Warren JFK) made a jumper with 28 seconds left (32-26). The Titans led by the same at intermission.
The Titans were up again by six points, 36-30, with 18:33 on the clock in the second half. Saint Vincent (16-9, 13-5 PAC), however, orchestrated an 8-0 run to take a 38-36 lead with 16:52 remaining. There would be 11 lead changes and eight ties in the next 15 minutes. The final lead change occurred when senior
Jarret Vrabel (Canfield, OH / Canfield) made a tip-in with 1:14 left, putting the Titans ahead, 59-58. Both teams would split a pair of free throws and the Titans led 60-59 with eight seconds remaining. Junior
Austin Armwood (Columbus, OH / Westerville North) made it a three-point game after making two free throws with seven seconds left. The Titan defense did not allow the Bearcats to get a shot off in their final possession.
Titan sophomore
Cameron Kane-Johnson (Niles, OH / Niles) led all scorers with 28 points (11-of-15), including a perfect 4-for-4 beyond the arc. This was the fourth game this season Kane-Johnson scored 25 or more points. Sophomore
Blake Payne (Ashtabula, OH / Jefferson Area) and Vrabel scored nine and six points, respectively. Kane-Johnson and sophomore
Lloyd Chatman (Columbus, OH / Reynoldsburg) led the Titans with three assists apiece. Kane-Johnson also pocketed a game-best three steals.
The Bearcats outshot the Titans, 46.7% (21-45) to 39.0% (23-59) and held a slight 34-33 edge in rebounds.
Westminster has clinched the fourth-seed for the PAC Basketball Championship Tournament and will host fifth-seed Grove City College (16-9, 9-9 PAC) in the Quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. The Titans swept the Wolverines in the regular season.
