PAC tournament: Bell sparks Geneva to win over W&J; Waynesburg falls short
R.J. Bell and Ethan Moose each scored 14 points and fifth-seeded Geneva upset fourth-seeded Washington & Jefferson 79-77 Tuesday night at Salvitti Family Gymnasium in the quarterfinals of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament.
Bell, a Canon-McMillan graduate and the son of former Big Macs and Peters Township head coach Rick Bell, entered the game averaging only five points per game but had one of his biggest nights of the season. The junior made four of Geneva’s 11 three-point field goals and helped the Golden Tornadoes get off to a fast start. Geneva (13-13) bolted out of the gate and had leads of 16-4 and 21-6 before settling for a 32-27 edge at halftime.
W&J (14-12), behind a game-high 18 points from Primo Zini, continued its comeback in the second half and took a 56-55 lead with 7:12 remaining after two free throws by Zini. Geneva, however, took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Bell with 6:23 left.
The Golden Tornadoes pushed their lead to six points and then protected it down the stretch by making just enough free throws. Geneva had a five-point lead before W&J’s Zach Queen made a three-pointer as time expired.
Joel Stutz had 13 points, Lyle Tipton 11 and Nate Rusyn 10 for Geneva, which will play at Chatham in the semifinals Thursday night.
Cameron Seemann scored 16 points, Okikiola Agbale had 15 and Jonathan Devito had 12 for the Presidents.
Chatham 72, Waynesburg 64: Second-seeded Chatham used some excellent long-range shooting to build a big halftime lead and then held off a late charge by seventh-seeded Waynesburg to defeat the Yellow Jackets 72-64 in the PAC tournament quarterfinals.
Chatham (17-9) took control early, forging a quick 14-5 lead and stretched it to 44-23 at halftime. The Cougars made nine three-pointers in the first half and 13 in the game.
Waynesburg (6-20) never led, though the Yellow Jackets did manage to fight back and close to within four points twice in the second half, the last time at 60-56 after a basket by Brennan Smith with 4:21 remaining. Smith led Waynesburg with game highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Isaiah Alonzo scored 19 points for the Yellow Jackets before fouling out and Frank Bozicevic had 12 points.
Chatham’s Malik Potter scored 24 points and made six three-pointers.