NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Thiel College men's basketball team defeated the Westminster Titans in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game, 79-71, Saturday afternoon.
 
The win secured the Tomcats the sixth seed in the PAC Championship Tournament.
 
The Tomcats started the game on a 14-4 run, building up 21-point lead late in the first half. However, the Titans would cut into the lead, and the Tomcats would head into halftime up 40-24.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Titans were able to open the half on a 15-4 run, cutting the Tomcat lead down to six. The Titans got within four before the Tomcats responded with an 9-0 scoring run to push the lead back up to 13. The Titans would not get within six points the rest of the way.
 
Thiel was led by junior guard Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) who tallied a game-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds. Beni Lavodrama (Washington, D.C./Phelps ACE) recorded a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Elijah Harden (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) and Gabriel Gonzalez (Miami, Fla./Southwest) each recorded 13 points, while Rudy Hyppolite (Lauderhill, Fla./Boyd Anderson) recorded 12 points and five boards.
 
Westminster was led by Reese Leone who recorded 16 points. Bobby Ray recorded 15 points, and Tyler James notched 11 points. 
 
The Tomcats conclude the regular season with a 12-11 record, and will begin postseason play on Tuesday when they travel to play the third-seeded Geneva Golden Tornadoes at Metheny Fieldhouse. The PAC Quarterfinal is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.