Men's Basketball: Titans fall to Saint Vincent

LATROBE, Pa. - The Westminster College men's basketball team dropped, 72-55, at Saint Vincent on Saturday in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play. The Titans fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference, while the Bearcats improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the PAC.


In the first half, the Titans tied the game, 8-8, after junior Anthony Thomas (New Castle, PA / Union) found senior Ron Martino (Youngstown, OH / Cardinal Mooney) for a three-pointer with 15:28 on the clock. Saint Vincent, however, gained control and finished the half with a 27-7 run and led 35-15 at intermission.


Westminster kept battling and orchestrated a 26-13 run with 12:17 left in the second half.  The run was capped off with a traditional three-point play from sophomore Ben Donlow (Poland, OH / Poland Seminary), which cut Saint Vincent's lead to 48-41. After the Bearcats regained a double-digit lead, the Titans pulled within five points, 56-51, after Thomas found Donlow for a layup with 6:32 on the clock. Saint Vincent then responded with a 16-4 run to end the game. 

Westminster freshman Paul Carswell (Painesville, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) came off the bench and led the team with a career-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds. Carswell was 16-of-20 from the free throw line. Senior Doug Smith (South Park, PA / South Park) earned a double-double that included 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Donlow followed with 11 points, while Martino added five points. Senior Adam Carswell (Painesville, OH / Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) contributed six rebounds, a block, and two points.


For the game, the Titans shot 29.8% (14-of-47) from the floor, (including 16.0% (4-of-25) in the first half), while the Bearcats shot 36.7% (22-of-60).


The Titans will open a two-game home stretch starting with Thiel on Wednesday at 8 p.m.