Jan 18, 2023 3 min read

Tyler James made a game-tying basket with two seconds left in regulation and a go-ahead field goal with 1:06 left in overtime to lift Westminster to a 102-98 victory over Washington & Jefferson in a key Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball game Wednesday night in New Wilmington.

Westminster (9-3, 11-6) trailed 93-91 after a basket by W&J’s Brandon Jakiela with 1:16 to play in regulation. Neither team scored again until James’ layup with two seconds left that forced overtime at 93-93.

W&J (9-3, 12-4), which entered the night in sole possession of first place in the PAC, scored the first five points of overtime for a 98-93 lead.

Westminster battled back and took a 99-98 lead on a James layup with 1:06 to play. Westminster’s Reese Leone made two free throws and James added one more to close the scoring. The Titans ended the game on a 9-0 run.

Westminster shot a blistering 58 percent from the field but committed 22 turnovers. W&J shot 47 percent and turned the ball over only 14 times.

Kyran Mitchell led W&J with 21 points and eight steals. Jakiela scored 20 points, J.R. Mazza had 17, Matt Seidl 14 and Nick Gearhart 12.

James finished with a game-high 22 points, leading five Titans in double figures.

Thiel 70, Waynesburg 67, OT: Elijah Harden scored 21 points and Marlon Ellerbee made a key basket with 12 seconds remaining in the second overtime as Thiel outlasted host Waynesburg 70-67 in a PAC game.

The game was close throughout. With Thiel (7-5, 8-7) leading 57-56 and 18 seconds remaining in regulation, Waynesburg’s Matt Popeck was fouled shooting a three-pointer. Popeck, who scored 14 points, was injured on the play and left the game. He did not return.

Antone Baker, who had 19 points and 16 rebounds, took the free throws for Popeck and made all three to give Waynesburg (2-10, 4-12) a 59-59 lead.

Thiel, however, forced overtime after a steal in the Waynesburg backcourt led to a basket by Ellerbee with six seconds remaining.

A three-point field goal by Jansen Knotts forced a second overtime tied at 64-64.

Thiel led 68-67 when Ellerbee, just as he did at the end of regulation, scored on a drive to the basket to put the Tomcats up 70-67 with 12 second to play. Waynesburg missed a pair of three-point attempts before time expired.

Knotts finished with 19 points.

Mercyhurst 66, California 65: Mercyhurst remained within striking distance of first place in the PSAC West with a 66-65 win at California.

Jake Planutis led the Lakers (8-2, 12-2) with 22 points and Nicholas Lang had 11. The Lakers shot 40 percent compared to call’s 44 percent, but the Vulcans committed 10 more turnovers than Mercyhurst.

Donald Whitehead scored a game-high 25 points for Cal (4-6, 7-9) including a three-pointer as time expired. Keith Palek had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Jermaine Hall scored 13 points and K.J. McClurg grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Women’s results

Mercyhurst 61, California 51: Jayde Boyd and Grace Centrulla each scored 22 points, powering Mercyhurst to a 61-51 victory over California in a PSAC West game at the Convocation Center.

Mercyhurst (6-4, 11-6) led by only 41-40 after three quarters but the Lakers scored the first sevne points of the final period and Cal (6-4, 10-6) never recovered.

Rjah Fink had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Vulcans. Ciaira Loyd had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.