GREENVILLE, Pa.--The Westminster College men's basketball team was dealt an 83-70 loss by Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Thiel College on the Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Saturday's loss snapped a five-game win streak against Thiel (7-7, 6-5 PAC).
Junior Andrew Clark (New Middletown, Ohio | Springfield Local)
paced the Titans with 19 points on 9-of-18 shooting. He added four blocked shots. Clark's 27 blocks rank fourth in the league this season.
Junior Reese Leone (Beloit, Ohio | West Branch)
scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added four assists and four steals while senior Tyler James (Youngstown, Ohio | Warren JFK)
totaled 12 points and eight rebounds in 22 reserve minutes.
Westminster (10-6, 8-3 PAC) shot 45.3 percent (29-64) from the field but made just 2-of-16 (12.5%) three-point field goal tries. The Titans were 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the free throw line.
Thiel outrebounded Westminster 43-35 and scored 21 points off 19 Titan turnovers. The Tomcats shot 44.9 percent (31-69) and hit 8-of-13 (61.5%) three-point field goal attempts.
Elijah Harden fired in a game-high 22 points to lead four Thiel players in double figures. Rayshod Hooper had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.
A 14-3 first half scoring run helped Thiel take a 45-31 lead into the break. The Tomcats shot 54.6 percent (18-33) from the floor and hit 7-of-9 (77.8%) three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes of action.
James' layup with under 10 minutes left in the second trimmed the Thiel lead to seven, 60-53, before the Tomcats scored nine-straight points to go up by 16, 69-53, with just over seven minutes remaining.
Westminster will host league-leading Washington & Jefferson College at Ron Galbreath Court inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
