Men's Basketball | 2/25/2026 12:30:00 AM
W&J photo courtesy of Stephen Rydzak/Westminster photo courtesy of Emily Tallis
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Three of the four home teams posted victories in Tuesday night's Presidents' Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, including Washington & Jefferson College, Westminster College and Chatham University, while Franciscan University was the lone road team to pull out a win.
The top seed in the South Division, W&J (20-6) rolled to an 85-59 decision over Geneva College, while the North Division's No. 1 seed Westminster (18-8) staved off a late rally from Saint Vincent College to post an 80-76 victory. The South Division will have three teams in the semifinals after No. 2 Chatham (18-7) used a big second half to come back for a 69-60 victory over Grove City College. The third team from the South to reach the semifinals was Franciscan (21-5), who came away from Allegheny College with a 66-62 win.
Thursday's semifinal match-ups will have Franciscan traveling to W&J for an 8 pm tip-off and Westminster will welcome Chatham to New Wilmington for a 7 pm contest. For fans going to the games, admission to all PAC Championship Tournament games is $5 for adults and $2 for students, with students at PAC host institutions admitted for free with valid identification. For fans at home, the PAC Sports Network will have free-to-view broadcasts of both games.
PAC Quarterfinal Highlights
#1S W&J 85, #4N Geneva 59
- Geneva led by as many as eight (12-4) early, but a 23-2 W&J outburst turned the tide and the Presidents took a 33-26 lead into halftime.
- W&J kept adding to their lead after the break, shooting 52 percent in the second half and using another big run of 23-6 to really pull away and cement their spot in the semifinals.
- The Presidents' defensive pressure led to 23 Geneva turnovers for the game, which were converted into 32 points, including 26 in transition.
- W&J also doubled up the Golden Tornadoes in points in the paint by a 48-24 margin.
- Twelve players scored in the win for the Presidents, led by senior forward Alex Acosta with 16 and sophomore guard/forward Cameron Rowell had 15 off the bench.
- Notching 10 points each was senior guard Matt Seidl and sophomore guard Quintin Burlenski.
- The high scorer for Geneva (10-16) was sophomore guard Tommy Coletti, who dropped in 17 points and senior guard/forward Trey Barker scored 11.
- The game was the final one for Geneva head coach Jeff Santarsiero, who announced in the fall he would retire following this season. He led the GTs for 30 years, led the program to 414 wins and guided Geneva to the PAC Championship in 2024.
#3S Franciscan 66, #2N Allegheny 62
- The first half saw wild swings both ways. After Franciscan opened the game with an 8-2 run, Allegheny answered with a 21-2 blitz to take their biggest lead at 23-10.
- The Barons came back in a big way, outscoring the Gators 22-7 over the half's final 10 minutes to take a 32-30 lead into the intermission.
- The lead changed hands six times early in the second half, but Franciscan used an 8-0 run to go in front and led by as many as nine, including a 62-53 advantage with 2:56 to play.
- Allegheny made one more run, slicing the margin to 64-62 with a minute to play and had possession in the closing seconds, but a three-pointer for the lead rattled in and out. Franciscan corralled the rebound and hit two free throws to clinch the win.
- Both teams were outstanding from the foul line. Allegheny was a perfect 17-for-17, but Franciscan knocked down 24-of-28 tries from the line.
- Franciscan junior guard Sawyer Butler led all scorers with 24 points and added seven rebounds and three steals. Junior forward Zach Oliver turned in a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards.
- Butler (10-11) and Oliver (9-11) finished the game a combined 19-for-22 from the free throw line.
- For Allegheny (10-16), senior guard Ryan Lang tallied 17 points, junior guard Jayson Perry finished with 13 and freshman forward Pijus Latauskas scored 10.
#1N Westminster 80, #4S Saint Vincent 76
- Westminster was in control early, using an 11-2 run to build a 20-9 cushion and after leading by as many as 14, the Titans carried a 44-33 advantage into the break.
- Westminster kept Saint Vincent at bay for much of the second half, as the Bearcats couldn't get closer than seven points until a furious rally in the final two minutes.
- The Titan lead was 75-65 with 2:16 to play, but SVC scored seven quick points to get within three and Saint Vincent cut it to 78-76 with six seconds to play before two Westminster foul shots finally secured the win.
- Although Saint Vincent finished the game with a 46-28 advantage in points in the paint, Westminster countered by knocking down 40 percent from the arc (8-20), while SVC was just 1-for-9 (11 percent).
- Two players scored double figures for the Titans in the win, with graduate student guard DJ Harrell going a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line as he poured in 26 points and added five assists.
- Senior forward Trey DePietro was the other top scorer with 16 points and he chipped in five boards and three blocked shots.
- Saint Vincent (16-10) was paced by senior forward Jaden Gales with 20 points and 12 rebounds, junior guard Maxwell Gordon with 14 points and senior guard Dev Ostrowski with 13 points and five steals.
#2S Chatham 69, #3N Grove City 60
- Chatham opened the game with seven of the first nine points, but then went on an extended cold stretch, scoring just two points over nearly nine minutes.
- Grove City took advantage, building a 19-9 lead and then used another seven-point run late in the half to forge a 33-26 lead going into halftime.
- The Wolverines' margin swelled to 44-33 four minutes into the second half, but the Cougars began chipping away and with a 20-4 run, were back in front at 53-48 with eight minutes to play.
- Grove City stayed within striking distance and trimmed the deficit to 59-58 with 1:39 left, but Chatham closed out the win and trip to the semifinals by scoring 10 of the game's final 12 points.
- Helping Chatham in their comeback was forcing 19 Grove City turnovers and scoring 17 points off those miscues.
- Chatham senior guard Diaun Pinkett turned in a stellar stat line with 16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and seven steals.
- The Cougars' balanced attack saw five others score at least eight points, with senior guard/forward Jake TenBarge (13), graduate student guard Zach Genther (12) and junior guard Drew Vizenor (11) all reaching double figures.
- Grove City (11-15) was led by senior guard Kyle Randle and junior center Austin Johncour with 15 points apiece and senior guard Mike Christenson had a dozen points.
Semifinal Previews
- W&J and Franciscan have played twice this year, with the Presidents earning four-point victories in both.
- The first meeting was in Steubenville on Dec. 6th and W&J pulled out an 86-82 win in OT. Acosta went off for 30 points in the contest for the Presidents.
- The rematch was on Feb. 4th in Washington, with W&J winning 81-77. Sophomore guard Michael Plasko had a huge game with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in 29 minutes off the bench.
- These teams also met in last year's PAC Quarterfinals. W&J was a 73-62 victor in that game and the Presidents would go on to reach the PAC Championship game.
- Westminster and Chatham will meet for the second time on Thursday, as the Titans won the regular season match-up.
- That game was also played in New Wilmington, with Westminster claiming an 86-66 win. Freshman guard Nick Ryan erupted for 27 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.
- Chatham is the defending PAC champion and trying to win its third conference title in the last four years. The head coach for those PAC title runs was David Richards, who is now the Westminster head coach after he returned to his alma mater last April.