Junior guard Ed Pagley led five double-digit scorers with 23 points, as the Westminster Titan men's basketball team overcame a 49-42 halftime deficit to post a 97-88 home win over Bethany College in the 2004 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship game. The Titans improved to 15-12 with the victory, while the Bison dropped to 18-9.
The win gave the Titans, now in their second year in the league, their first-ever PAC title under first-year head coach Larry Ondako. It also marked the first conference championship for Westminster since the 1995-96 season, when the Titans captured the title of the NAIA Keystone-Empire Collegiate Conference (KECC).
Bethany controlled play at the outset, racing to a quick 17-8 lead just over five minutes into the contest. The Bison led by as many as 12 points twice in the first half, the last at 49-37 with 54 seconds to play, before Westminster closed the period with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 49-42 at the half. Bethany maintained their lead midway through the second half when the Titans made their run. Trailing by eight (67-59) with 12:18 to play, Westminster went on a 11-2 spurt to take its first lead since early in the game at 70-69 with 10:20 left. The teams were tied 81-81 with 4:52 left when the Titans took the lead for good on a Pagley jumper, which started a 16-7 run the rest of the way for the Blue & White.
Pagley scored 20 of his 23 points after halftime, as he connected on five three-pointers in the victory. Other double-digit scorers for Westminster included sophomore guard Mark DeMonaco with 20 points, sophomore forward Dom Joseph and junior guard Chris Hatch each with 14, and freshman forward Randall Poindexter with 12. Joseph added team-high totals of 14 rebounds and four blocked shots, while DeMonaco posted game-high totals of seven assists and four steals. Bethany placed four scorers in double figures in the loss, led by Matt Drahos with 23 points.
Because the PAC does not receive an automatic NCAA playoff berth, the Titans will have to wait to see if they have been selected for postseason play. The NCAA Division III Tournament field will be released on Sunday, Feb. 29 at 10 p.m., while the ECAC Division III South Region Tournament bracket will be released on Monday, March 1.
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