GROVE CITY, Pa. – The third-seeded Westminster College men's basketball team won, 59-48, at second-seed Grove City College in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament Semifinals Thursday evening.
There were five lead changes early in the first half with the last one coming in favor of Westminster (13-14) when sophomore
Anthony Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range) made a three-pointer, putting the Titans in front, 8-6, with 11:53 to play. The Titans did not trail for the remainder of the half and had their largest lead of 10 points three times with the last one at 21-11 with 6:38 on the clock. Grove City (16-11) got within one point of Westminster's lead twice. The Titans led 26-22 at halftime.
In the second half, the Wolverines tied the game twice before taking their first lead since the 12
th minute of the first half when Joe Meola made a layup, putting Grove City up 36-35 with 13:20 to play. After the Titans tied the game, the Wolverines led, 38-36, with 12:32 left. The Titans, however, regained the lead and never looked back, ending the game with a 21-12 run.
Junior
Blake Payne (Ashtabula, OH / Jefferson Area) earned his third double-double of the season (fifth of his career) as he scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Payne also had a game- and career-high four blocks. Sophomore
Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, MD / Avalon) scored a team-high 11 points, to go along with seven boards. Ritter added nine points, while sophomore
Daniel Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range) had seven. Senior
Austin Armwood (Columbus, OH / Westerville North) gathered a career-high six rebounds, to go along with six points. Armwood also dished out a game-high seven assists, which tied a season-high. Junior
Dylan O'Hara (Girard, OH / Girard) pocketed a team-high two steals.
Westminster ousthot Grove City 35.0% (21-60) to 32.2% (19-59) and outrebounded the Wolverines, 45-41.
The Titans will host fourth-seed Chatham University on Saturday in the PAC Title game. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday will be the Titans' second trip to the title game, first since winning their only PAC championship in 2004.
