LATROBE, Pa. – The Westminster College men's basketball team lost, 74-72, with a last-second three-pointer by Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Saint Vincent College on the road Saturday evening.
The first six minutes of the game consisted of six ties with the last one going in favor of Saint Vincent (10-11, 5-7 PAC) who led by as much as four points (19-15) with 13:23 on the clock. Westminster (12-10, 7-6 PAC) responded with a 12-0 run, capped off with a layup by junior Daniel Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range), and led 27-19 with just under 10 minutes left. Westminster took a double-digit lead three different times for the rest of the half, however, the Bearcats finished the frame with a 4-0 run and the Titans led 38-32.
In the second half, the Titans had their largest lead of 13 points (54-41) following a layup by senior Dylan O'Hara (Girard, OH / Girard) with 12 minutes left. The Bearcats hung around, however, and Westminster had a 10-point, 66-56 lead with five minutes to play. Saint Vincent started its rally with an 8-0 run, cutting Westminster's lead to 66-64 with three minutes on the clock. Saint Vincent managed to tie the game at 68, however, O'Hara put the Titans back in front (69-68) with a free throw with 2:16 remaining. On Saint Vincent's ensuing possession, David Stephen drained a three to give the Bearcats their first lead since the 13th minute of the first half. Ritter quickly silenced the Robert S. Carey Student Center crowd with a three of his own and the Titans led 72-71 with 1:35 left. Westminster came up short twice with scoring opportunities before Saint Vincent's Josh Duda made the game-winning three with 0.6 seconds on the clock.
O'Hara led all scorers with 23 points, marking the ninth game this year he has scored 20 or more points. Ritter also scored in double-digits for the Titans with 15 points. Senior Blake Payne (Ashtabula, OH / Jefferson Area) and junior Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, MD / Avalon) added nine and eight points, respectively. Junior Josh Hutcherson (Uniontown, OH / Uniontown Lake) scored six points off the bench. Payne, Stamatiades, and Hutcherson each had a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Ricky Roth (Ellwood City, PA / Lincoln) dished out a team-high six assists.
The Titans are back in action Wednesday, Feb. 12 with a home game versus longtime-rival Geneva College at 8 p.m.
