Thomas More men net PAC basketball title

Thomas More men net PAC basketball title

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2016-17 PAC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, February 21
7 p.m. No. 1 Saint Vincent 70, No. 8 Chatham 58
7 p.m. No. 2 Thomas More 96, No. 7 Geneva 74
7 p.m. No. 3 Thiel 69, No. 6 Grove City 58
7 p.m. No. 5 Bethany 90, No. 4 Westminster 66
Semifinals
Thursday, February 23
7 p.m. No. 1 Saint Vincent 74, No. 5 Bethany 65
7 p.m. No. 2 Thomas More 73, No. 3 Thiel 53
Championship
Saturday, February 25
7:30 p.m. No. 2 Thomas More 79, No. 1 Saint Vincent 68
LATROBE, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – Second-seeded Thomas More College secured a 79-68 victory over top-seeded Saint Vincent College to capture the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament title Saturday night at the Robert S. Carey Center.

The conference championship is Thomas More’s second (2009). The Saints, appearing in their sixth championship tournament title game since 2010, had been winless in their previous five.

With Saturday’s win the Saints earn the league’s automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The selected Division III Championship Tournament teams and pairings will be announced live Monday, February 27 on the NCAA’s website (www.ncaa.com) at 12:30 p.m. Thirty-two first-round games and 16 second-round games, at 16 sites, are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 3-4.   

2016-17 PAC Championship Tournament highlights
Saturday, Feb. 25 – Latrobe, Pa.
Championship
No. 2 Thomas More 79, No. 1 Saint Vincent 68 Box Score
Thomas More (22-6) sophomore Damion King (Winchester, Ky. | George Rogers Clark) finished with a game-high 24 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. King went 7-of-10 from the field, including 5-for-5 from three-point range, in the game’s first 20 minutes to total 20 first half points.

Saint Vincent (21-7) junior Jason Capco (Belle Vernon, Pa. | Belle Vernon) notched 15 first half points after drilling 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range. Capco finished the game with a team-high 20 points.

Junior Tom Kromka (Monroeville, Pa. | Gateway) hit a layup with 1:31 remaining to trim the Thomas More lead to six, 72-66, but sophomore Brandon Horne’s (Louisville, Ky. |Male) three pointer 28 seconds later would push the Saints back up by nine, 75-66.

Thomas More sophomore Ryne Callahan (Morehead, Ky. | Rowan County) totaled 12 points while classmate Ralph Stone (Shelbyville, Ky. | Martha Layne Collings) added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Kromka finished with 14 points and four rebounds. Junior Matt D’Amico (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Fox Chapel) chipped in with 13 points and three boards.
 
Thursday, Feb. 23 – Latrobe, Pa.
Semifinals
No. 1 Saint Vincent 74, No. 5 Bethany 65 Box Score
Senior Austin Ford (Blue Bell, Pa. | Sanford School) led four Saint Vincent players in double figures, tallying a career-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds to lead the Bearcats into Saturday’s title game.

Junior guard Jason Capco (Belle Vernon, Pa. | Belle Vernon) finished with a career-best 14 points while classmates Coy Patterson Jr. (Leesburg, Fla. | Eustis) and Matt D’Amico (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Fox Chapel) chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Patterson Jr. also established a new career high with seven assists.

Junior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Obama Academy) led Bethany with 15 points and eight rebounds while freshman forward Chaice Truex (Wheeling, W.Va. | St. John Central (Ohio)) added 14 points and seven boards. Senior guard Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa. | New Castle) contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
Thursday, Feb. 23 – Crestview Hills, Ky.
Semifinals
No. 2 Thomas More 73, No. 3 Thiel 53 Box Score
Thomas More sophomore guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky. | George Rogers Clark) finished with a game-high 24 points in Thursday’s semifinal victory over Thiel.

Sophomore forward Ralph Stone (Shelbyville, Ky. | Martha Layne Collins) totaled 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals while classmate Brandon Horne (Louisville, Ky. | Male) chipped in with 13 points.

Junior forward Clandell Cetoute (Wellington, Fla. | Wellington) led Thiel with 12 points and nine rebounds while sophomore guard Alonzo Brown (Largo, Fla. | Pinellas Park) added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Tuesday, February 21 – Latrobe, Pa.
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Saint Vincent 70, No. 8 Chatham 58 Box Score
Hosting Chatham in the tournament quarterfinals for the second-straight year, Saint Vincent led wire-to-wire in Tuesday’s win. The victory marked the Bearcats’ 13th straight in the league’s championship tournament and secured the program’s fifth-straight 20-win season.

Junior forward Tom Kromka (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) finished with his sixth double-double of the season, totaling game highs in both points (18) and rebounds (14). He also added four assists. Sophomore guard Mike Simmons (New Kensington, Pa./Kiski Area) and senior forward Austin Ford (Blue Bell, Pa./Sanford School) chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Sophomore guard Isaiah Brown (Scott, Ark./North Pulaski) led Chatham with 16 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Logan Hunter (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) finished with 12 points and four rebounds while sophomore guard Alex Schoppen (Gibsonia, Pa./Central Catholic) added 10. 
 
Tuesday, February 21 – Crestview Hills, Ky.
Quarterfinals
No. 2 Thomas More 96, No. 7 Geneva 74 Box Score
Sophomore guard Brandon Horne (Louisville, Ky./Male) finished with a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals in Thomas More’s quarterfinal victory, the program’s 10th-straight opening round win.

Junior center Simon Clifford (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) finished with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting while sophomore guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark) added 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Junior guard Jimmy Leichliter (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) finished with a game-high nine rebounds while headlining a trio of Geneva players that scored 18 points apiece. Freshman guard Ethan Moose (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) added five boards while sophomore guard David Oliver (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) chipped in with three rebounds and a pair of assists.
     
Tuesday, February 21 – Greenville, Pa.
Quarterfinals
No. 3 Thiel 69, No. 5 Grove City 58 Box Score
Tuesday’s win was Thiel’s first in the league championship tournament since the third-seeded Tomcats claimed a 57-44 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seeded Grove City on Feb. 19, 2013.

Freshman guard Nyric Gosley (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport), making just his ninth start of the season for the Tomcats, posted his second 20-point scoring effort of the year in quarterfinal win. He finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three steals.

Junior guard Mert Ozkaynak (Izmir, Turkey / T.C. Williams (Va.)) added 15 points while sophomore guard LeAndre Jackson (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) and freshman guard Terrance Holloway (Farrell, Pa./Farrell) each added 10 points and six boards, respectively. Holloway also finished with a team-high seven assists.

Junior forward Andrew Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) led three from Grove City in double figures with a 15-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist effort. Freshman guard Nate Peters (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) and junior forward Cory Huff (Kersey, Pa./Elk County Catholic) added 14 and 10 points, respectively. 
 
Tuesday, February 21 – New Wilmington, W.Va.
Quarterfinals
No. 5 Bethany 90, No. 4 Westminster 66 Box Score
Bethany freshman forward Chaice Truex (Wheeling, W.Va./St. John Central (Ohio)) posted a career-high 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including 5-for-8 from three-point range, to go with seven rebounds in Tuesday’s win at Westminster. It marked just his second 20-point performance of the season.

The victory sets up a meeting with top-seeded Saint Vincent, who was dealt two of its three regular season league losses by the Bison. Third-seeded Bethany picked up a 66-65 semifinal win at second-seeded Saint Vincent on Feb. 24, 2011, the last championship tournament meeting between the two schools.

Junior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) finished with 15 point and seven boards, while senior forward Javonte' Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) and junior guard Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) each chipped in 13 points in the win.

Westminster finished with three players scoring in double figures, led by junior forward Jarret Vrabel’s (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) 17-point, seven-rebound evening. Junior forward Deontay Scott (Youngstown, Ohio/East) registered his ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Jason Pilarski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) chipped in with 11.