Big second half sends Bethany to PAC title
BETHANY, WV, February 23, 2002--The Bethany Bison used 10 three-pointers and 19-for-22 shooting from the free-throw line to claim their second straight Presidents' Athletic Conference championship Saturday night with an 89-74 victory over Grove City in the tournament finals at Bethany's Hummel Field House.
Top-seeded Bethany (20-7), winner of back-to-back PAC crowns for the first time since the late sixties, took the lead for good early in the second half after trailing 38-36 at halftime. The Bison opened the second half with a 17-5 run in a span of four minutes which built their lead to 10 points (53-43). The third-seeded Wolverines answered with a 14-7 run to cut the margin to three at the 11-minute mark (60-57) but would never get any closer.
Bethany shot 61 percent from the floor after intermission (30-for-62), including 5-for-10 from outside the arc. The Bison outrebounded Grove City over the final 20 minutes, 17-9, after the Wolverines posted a 23-14 edge on the glass in the first half.
Sophomore Tanner Prosser (Pittsburgh, PA/Brentwood) led three Wolverines in double figures with 19 points and added a career-high 10 assists for his fifth double-double of the season. Prosser also posted seven rebounds, all coming in the first half. Senior Pat Roberts (Home, PA/Marion Center) and junior Andy Vlajkovich (Canfield, OH/Canfield) netted 11 points apiece. Roberts hit 5 of 7 shots from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Vlajkovich went 3-for-3 from three-point range.
Grove City shot 55 percent from the floor (29-for-53), its best effort since shooting 59 percent (37-for-63) on Jan. 8 against Medaille.
Mike Majzun and Keith Schubert paced Bethany with 25 and 24 points, respectively. Majzun and Nevada Smith each knocked down 4 of 6 three-point attempts, accounting for eight of the Bison's 10 treys.
The Wolverines (17-10), who last won a PAC title in 1998-99, hope to receive a bid to the ECAC championship playoffs on Monday.
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