NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster men's basketball team clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament following a convincing 84-64 win over Saint Vincent on Senior Day Saturday afternoon.
Four Titans scored in double-digits, led by senior Isaac Stamatiades (Elkridge, MD / Avalon) who recorded his eighth double-double of the season (27th of his career) with game-highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds, to go along with a game-high three steals (tying a career-best). Stamatiades also had a remarkable game-high +30 plus/minus. Senior Daniel Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range) scored 12 points, followed by junior Tyler James (Youngstown, OH / Warren JFK) with 11. James had arguably the highlight of the day with a dazzling fast break-dunk late in the first half. Also scoring in double-digits was first-year Reese Leone (Beloit, OH / West Branch) with 10 points.
Down 4-2 early in the game, Westminster (8-1) jumped out to a commanding 25-7 lead with a 23-3 run, capped off with a fast break-layup by Stamatiades (already his 13th point in the contest). The Titans maintained its double-digit lead for the rest of the half with their largest lead coming at 26 points (37-11). The Titans led 48-23 at halftime; Stamatiades had game-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds. In the second half, Westminster kept its foot on the gas and did not let the Bearcats (2-7) get below a 20-point deficit for the remainder of the game. The Titans had their largest lead of 31 points twice, with the latest coming at 75-44 with 7:12 to play.
In addition to Westminster's top scorers, senior Anthony Ritter (North Lima, OH / South Range) registered nine points, while sophomore Austin O'Hara (Girard, OH / Girard) added eight points and dished out a game-high six assists (tying a career-high). Senior Josh Hutcherson (Uniontown, OH / Uniontown Lake) tied a career-high with eight rebounds, to go along with four points. Rounding out the senior performances were Kai Skinner (Titusville, PA / Titusville) and Malique Burton (Cleveland, OH / Holy Name) who added five and two points, respectively.
The Titans outshot the Bearcats 49.3% (33-67) to 39.1% (25-64) and held a 45-37 advantage on the glass.
The PAC Tournament is slated to start Saturday, March 13 with Tournament's two "play-in" games. Westminster will host the winner of No. 9 vs. No. 8, one of the "play-in" games, on Tuesday, March 16 in the Quarterfinals.