NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster College men's basketball team lost, 74-72, to Medaille College in the First Round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship Tournament at home Wednesday night.
Westminster (19-9) led, 6-2, to start the game, however, Medaille (18-10) answered with an 11-0 run to take a 13-6 lead with 15:31 on the clock. The Mavericks were in front for the next six minutes and had their largest lead of eight points twice, with the latest coming at the 9:15 mark (25-17). Westminster tied the game at 27 with a 10-2 run, capped off with a layup by junior
African Grant II (Warren, OH / Warren JFK), with five minutes remaining. The Titans tied it two more times with the last one coming with 46 seconds left, after sophomore
Lloyd Chatman (Columbus, OH / Reynoldsburg) scored a layup, tying the game at 39. The score remained the same at intermission.
Titan sophomore
Blake Payne (Ashtabula, OH / Jefferson Area) opened the second half with a jumper, giving Westminster its first lead (41-39) since the 17
th minute of the first half.
Westminster had its largest lead, 49-44, after sophomore
Cameron Kane-Johnson (Niles, OH / Niles) made a jumper with 13 minutes left. Medaille responded with a 6-0 run and retook the lead (50-49) with 11:29 to play. After the Titans went back in front (52-50), the Mavericks went up by as much as seven points twice, with the latest coming at the 6:58 mark (64-57). Westminster got within one point of Medaille's lead (64-63), after a 6-0 run, capped off with a layup by junior
Austin Armwood (Columbus, OH / Westerville North) with 4:30 remaining. The Mavericks maintained their lead and led by as much as six points (69-63), however, the Titans continued to battle and tied the game at 69 after Kane-Johnson made a layup high off the back board with 1:56 on the clock. Meghale Ford made a three on the Maverick's next possession to put Medaille up 72-69. Two possessions later, the Titans made Medaille pay with giving up three offensive boards as Kane-Johnson found Armwood for a three, after freshman
Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, MD / Avalon) grabbed the third rebound, with 15 seconds left. The Mavericks came out of a full timeout and Ford drove right to the basket for the go-ahead field goal with four seconds left. The Titans were unable to get a shot off as they turned it over after crossing half court.
Three Titans scored in double-figures, led by senior
Jarret Vrabel (Canfield, OH / Canfield) with a team-high 18 points. Armwood tallied 11 points, while Payne had 10. Vrabel and Payne each registered a double-double, as Vrabel grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and Payne gathered 10. The double-double marked Vrabel's 10
th of his career and Payne's second. Chatman and freshman
Malique Burton (Cleveland, OH / Holy Name) added nine and eight points, respectively. Burton's point total was a career-best. Kane-Johnson dished out a team-high six assists, to go along with six points. Grant collected a career-best nine rebounds.
Medaille outshot Westminster, 43.5% (30-69) to 36.8% (28-76). The Titans outrebounded the Mavericks, 51-39, including a 19-8 advantage in offensive boards.
Westminster's 19 wins were the most in school history since the 2000-01 season (19-6).
