NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.--While Westminster was far from flawless from the free-throw line, it was good enough to claim its second Presidents' Athletic Conference contest in three nights.
Senior Austin O'Hara (Girard, Ohio | Girard) hit a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining Thursday night, as Westminster College men's basketball team edged Chatham University, 72-68.
At Ron Galbreath Court inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium, the Titans tallied just 18 of 27 freebies, 12 of 18 during the second half. Conversely, the Cougars converted 9 of 11, including 6 of 7 after intermission.
Chatham's Blaine Gartley drove the length of the floor to score with 9.1 ticks to play as the Cougars clawed within 70-68. Marcos Cintron and Isaiah Smith also scored clutch treys as Chatham rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit (39-28 at intermission). Cintron – who scored a team-high 17 points – drained a triple with 37.7 seconds left as the Cougars closed within 68-66.
After Chatham's Nick Bomar bombed a trey, drawing Chatham within 54-53 with approximately 6:50 remaining, Westminster freshman Bobby Ray (Jefferson, Ohio | Jefferson) responded with his own triple from the left wing, taking the Titans to a 57-53 lead.
During the first half there were a trio of ties, but the Titans never trailed to the competitive Cougars (5-3, 6-7).
"You've got to give them credit, they never quit. Whenever we play those guys it's like that, a game that's going to come down to the wire, whether we're up or they're up," an admiring Titans' taskmaster Kevin Siroki said. "But I give our guys credit for stepping up and making some free throws at the end and getting some defensive stops.
"I'm proud of our guys. … our guys kept grinding, kept grinding, and that's why I'm proud of our guys," Siroki added.
Westminster (7-1 PAC, 9-4 overall) benefitted from slightly better balance. Ray and freshman Trey DePietro (Boardman, Ohio | Boardman) each scored 15 points.
O'Hara authored a 12-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist, 2-steal line for Westminster, while junior Andrew Clark (New Middletown, Ohio | Springfield Local) contributed 11 points and 8 caroms. With junior Reese Leone (Beloit, Ohio | West Branch) and senior Justin Bofenkamp (Warren, Ohio | Warren JFK) evenly splitting an additional dozen rebounds Westminster won the board battle, 47-34. Senior Jordan Zupko (Mineral Ridge, Ohio | Mineral Ridge) contributed 3 assists, as did Leone.
"We can go ten deep, eleven deep, with guys we really believe in – and we believe in everybody," Siroki said, "There's no clear starting five. I think any of those guys could start on any other team, not just our team."
Led by Clark, Ray and DePietro – who combined to connect on 15 of 24 shots – Westminster went 25 for 55 from the floor (45.5%), compared with the Cougars' 25-for-73 performance (34.2%, including 9 for 29, 31%, from the 3-point arc).
"I thought we did a really good job (of contesting shots) the first half; the second half, not as good. But we'll work on that," Siroki said.
After a clean first half (4 miscues) the Titans turned over the ball 15 times, compared with the Cougars' 9.
Cintron scored 17 points, including a trio of triples, while Simon Boyer bucketed 15 and Gartley garnered 13. Smith, plagued by game-long personal-foul problems, ended with a team-high 8 rebounds and added 8 points. Bomar and Geoffrey Helm had a half-dozen rebounds apiece, and Bomar was credited with 3 dimes for head coach David Richards.
"We talked about this week being 'separation week','" Siroki observed. "We escaped down at Geneva (a 72-66 triumph onTuesday), and we escaped here with a win. … Franciscan's going to come in (Saturday afternoon) and press us all over the place, so we've got to work on our press-breaker. And when we're up, we've got to keep (opposing teams) down.
"The last two games we've had double-digit leads and let (opponents) come back in the second half, so we've got to get better at that," Siroki summarized.
"No rest for the wicked," a smiling Siroki said. "We're right there at the top of the league, and that's what we want … but we've got to play every possession and stay in the moment."
Westminster welcomes Franciscan University of Steubenville for a 3:30 p.m. PAC matinee on Saturday.
