Bethany rallies to beat Titans in PAC men’s semifinal, 71-67

CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. — Lance Beckwith’s three-point play with just over three minutes remaining gave Bethany the lead for good and the Bison went on to defeat Westminster, 71-67, in the semifinals of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament on Thursday night.

Bethany (17-10) will play host Thomas More (18-8) in the championship game at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The Titans (10-17) led 65-63 when Beckwith converted an offensive rebound and made the free throw with 3:01 remaining. Petre Petkovski’s 3-pointer made it 69-65 with 1:57 to go but the Titans’ Ryne Murray made a layup to the trim the margin to two with 1:30 left. Westminster missed four 3-point shots in the final 51 seconds, and Joe Testa sank a pair of free throws to ice the win.

Beckwith finished with 26 points to lead Bethany and Petkovski finished with 17. Murray scored 31 points and had 14 rebounds to lead Westminster.

Thomas More, the No. 1 seed, defeated Washington & Jefferson 78-64 in Thursday’s other semifinal.