Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship
Who: No. 2 seed Saint Vincent (23-3) at No. 1 Geneva (23-3)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Metheny Fieldhouse, Beaver Falls
Livestream: www.pacstream.net
Coaches: D.P. Harris, Saint Vincent; Jeff Santarsiero, Geneva
Players to watch: Dev Ostrowski, Saint Vincent; Trevor Tipton, Geneva
Notable: The finalists both squeaked out nail biters to reach the title game. Saint Vincent, which will play for its fifth PAC title, edged past Chatham, 88-83, in overtime. Ostrowski, a sophomore guard, scored a career-high 32 points, 24 after halftime and in overtime, while senior guard Osyon Jones added 25 and reached the 1,000-point mark for his career. Jones made the go-ahead free throws in overtime. Senior guard Tayler McNeal had 13 points, while sophomore forward Jaden Gales added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Gales leads the team in scoring (18.5 ppg), followed by Ostrowski (17.2), Jones (15.2) and Mike Iuzzolino (12.7). Saint Vincent won four straight conference titles from 2012-16. The Bearcats last made the final in 2017. … Grad student Isaac Massie completed a three-point play with eight-tenths of a second remaining to lift Geneva to a 68-67 win over Grove City in the semifinals. Tipton (15.9), Ryan Rachic (15.9), Massie (12.1) and Payton Triplett all average in double figures for the Golden Tornadoes. … SVC and Geneva split their season series with each winning at home. Jones’ basket with three seconds left lifted the Bearcats to a 72-70 win, while Geneva held off a late surge to win, 73-69. … The last time they met in the PAC playoffs (2018), Geneva won a quarterfinal thriller, 80-79 in overtime. … The winner earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
—Bill Beckner Jr.
