GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's basketball team raced out to a big lead against Westminster College and held on for the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) win Monday night. After building a 21-11 advantage against the Titans through the first nine minutes of action, the Tomcats stopped Westminster's second half rally in time for a 75-68 victory.
 
Thiel (5-9, 2-6) built a 21-11 lead over the first nine minutes of action. Westminster (3-13, 2-5) responded with a 17-5 run to grab a 28-25 advantage with just under five minutes showing on the first-half clock. Sophomore Khari Bess (Waldorf, Md./Maurice J. Mcdonough) ended the mini-run by the visiting team with a layup that made it a one-point game, 28-27.
 
After Westminster (3-13, 2-5) built a six point lead (35-29) with 1:10 remaining in the first half, but sophomore Justin Dade (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) scored four points on a layup and two free-throws to bring Thiel to within two (35-33) at the half.
 
The Tomcats quickly regained the lead on a Luke Kochka (Monroeville, Pa. /Gateway) three-pointer 19 seconds into the second half and never trailed for the remainder of the contest, building up a ten point lead (45-35) with 17:20 remaining in the game. Westminster countered with a 16-6 run that tied the game at 51-51 with 12 minutes showing on the game clock.
 
Again, Thiel responded, as Bess capped off a 7-0 run with a three-pointer that gave the Tomcats a commanding lead. Westminster, to its credit, kept chipping away, whittling its deficit all the way down to just three points (71-68) with 50 seconds to play.
 
Luckily for the home team, juniors Charlie Thomas (North Warren Pa./Warren Area) and Jermaine Hamilton (Concord Township, Ohio/Thomas W. Harvey) each made good on a pair of late free throw attempts to seal the victory.
 
Bess led the Tomcat offense with 20 points while tying his season-best assists output with nine. Junior Eric Mallinger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) added 20 points, a season-high 16 rebounds, six steals and five blocks for his fifth double-double of the season. Kochka completed Thiel's trio of double-digit scorers with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
 
Thiel's ability to pressure the Titans into poor decisions was a big reason for its win. The Tomcats forced a season-high 16 turnovers and swiped a season-best 14 steals.
 
The Tomcats will try to make it two PAC wins in a row on Saturday, when it hosts the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.