Men’s Basketball: Titans Roll Past Bison, Stay Unbeaten

BETHANY, W.Va – The Westminster College men's basketball team won, 90-71, over Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Bethany College on the road on Saturday.
 
Saturday's game marked the second consecutive game with 90+ points, the first time since the 2006-07 season that Westminster has achieved this feat.
 
Five Titans scored in double figures, led by senior Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, MD / Avalon), who registered his second-straight double-double with a team-high 25 points and tying a game-high with 12 rebounds. Stamatiades also had a team-high three made three pointers on a perfect 3-for-3 mark from long range.
 
Stamtiades was followed closely by junior Tyler James (Youngstown, OH / Warren JFK), who also notched his second-straight double-double with 17 points and matched Stamatiades with 12 boards. James also registered a game-high three blocks, which tied a career-high.
 
Westminster (2-0, 2-0 PAC) immediately jumped out of the gate to a 10-0 lead, when sophomore Austin O'Hara (Girard, OH / Girard) made a layup just over five minutes into the contest. The Titans led by a score of 18-9 midway through the first half. Westminster held its largest lead of the first half with 3:19 left when Stamatiades drilled a three pointer in transition to give the Titans a 34-22 lead. Bethany (0-2, 0-2 PAC) slightly cut into the Titans lead before halftime, going into intermission trailing by a score of 39-31.
 
In the second half, Bethany scored the first points of the period to cut the deficit to 39-33 with 18:17 remaining. However, Westminster responded with quick 12-2 run, capped off by a transition jumper by Reese Leone (Beloit, OH / West Branch) to give the Titans a 51-35 lead with 16:10 left in the contest. The Bison cut the deficit to 10 with 11:09 left, but that would be the closest they would get, as Westminster held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.
 
In addition to Stamatiades and James scoring in double-figures, Leone continued the fine start to his collegiate career with 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and a team-high two steals. O'Hara finished with 10 points, four rebounds and tied a game-high with three assists. Senior Anthony Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range) was the final Titan in double figures with 12 points and tied a career-high with five rebounds.
 
For the game, the Titans out shot Bethany 48.5% (32-66) to 36.1% (22-61) and bested the Bison on the glass with a 43-28 advantage. Westminster also shot a very solid 47.1% (8-17) from long range and 81.8% from the charity stripe (18-22).
 
Westminster is next scheduled to play at Waynesburg on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m.