Men's Basketball: Titans Drop, 84-80, in OT Thriller at Geneva

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - The Westminster College men's basketball team fell, 84-80, in overtime at Geneva on Saturday in the final game of both team's regular season. The Titans dropped to 7-17 overall and 3-13 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while the Golden Tornadoes improved to 5-20 overall and 4-12 in the conference.

 
The Titans led 16-13 with 9:27 on the clock in the first half, however, Geneva jumped out to a 27-18 lead after a 14-2 run with 5:36 remaining. Westminster responded with a 12-3 run to tie the game at 30 at intermission.

 
Geneva was never down in the second half and had a 62-56 lead with 1:04 remaining in the game. The Titans, down 66-63 with 10 seconds to go, tied the game at 66 when Westminster junior Anthony Thomas (New Castle, PA / Union) found senior Doug Smith (South Park, PA / South Park) for a three-pointer. The Titans were able to get a shot off with one second on the clock, however they just fell short and the game went into overtime.

 
In overtime, Geneva led 79-72 with 1:19 on the clock, however Westminster cut Geneva's lead to 80-79 with 42 seconds remaining after a pair of Thomas free throws.

 
For the game, Geneva outshot Westminster 49.2% (30-61) to 38.4% (28-73) and out-rebounded the Titans 50-34.

 
Senior Ron Martino (Youngstown, OH / Cardinal Mooney) and Smith led the Titans with a game-high 22 points each. This marked a career-high for Martino. Thomas followed with 21 points. Freshman Paul Carswell (Painesville, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) led on the glass with a team-high seven rebounds.

 
Westminster will play Waynesburg on Monday in the PAC Tournament play-in game, while the no. 7-seeded Geneva will travel to the no. 2-seeded Thomas More on Tuesday in the first round of tournament play.