Men’s Basketball: Titans Bring Back Home PAC Title

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster College men's basketball team dethroned the reigning conference champions Grove City College with a 73-62 win in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship game at home Saturday afternoon, claiming their second PAC Title in school history.
 
No. 1 seed Westminster (11-1) had four players score in double-digits, led by senior Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, MD / Avalon) with a game-high 16 points – including a team-best 3-for-3 from long range. Stamatiades also earned his 11th double-double of the season, finishing with 30 for his distinguished career.
 
Also scoring in double-digits were seniors Josh Hutcherson (Uniontown, OH / Uniontown Lake) with 14 points and Daniel Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range) and first-year Reese Leone (Beloit, OH / West Branch) with 12 points apiece. Leone also dished out a team-high three assists. Junior Tyler James (Youngstown, OH / Warren JFK) added nine points, while first-year Andrew Clark (New Middletown, OH / Springfield Local) scored six. Clark also tied with Stamatiades for a team-high two blocks. Rounding out the Titan scorers was sophomore Austin O'Hara (Girard, OH / Girard) with four points, who also pocketed a team-high two steals.
 
For the game, Westminster outshot Grove City, 46.8% (22-47) to 34.8% (23-66).
 
Grove City was led by Isaac Thrasher who scored a team-high 15 points, while Joe Meola led the Wolverines on the glass with eight rebounds.
 
Down 7-6 early in the first half, the Titans answered with a 15-5 run, capped off with James making a fast break layup while getting fouled and converting on the free throw. The No. 4 seed Grove City (8-4) got within one point of the Titans' lead twice, with the latest at 26-25 with 3:20 to play in the frame. Westminster led 28-25 at halftime.
 
The Titans came out in the second half with urgency, outscoring the Wolverines 16-1 in the first six minutes to take a commanding 44-26 lead (their largest of the contest). Grove City cut Westminster's lead to single-digits several times, with the latest at 61-53 with four minutes to play, but Westminster did not let them get any closer on its way winning its first PAC Championship since the 2003-04 season.

For more Westminster Athletics news, go to westminster.edu/athletics. 

*Written by Nathan LaRiccia, Sports Information Director

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