PSAC Regular Season Champions - Men
84
Winner Gannon GU-M 26-2, 20-2 PSAC
75
Seton Hill SHU-M 16-12, 11-11 PSC
Winner
Gannon GU-M
26-2, 20-2 PSAC
84
Final
75
Seton Hill SHU-M
16-12, 11-11 PSC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Gannon GU-M 43 41 84
Seton Hill SHU-M 40 35 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Gannon Wraps Up Western Division Crown with Win at Seton Hill

Golden Knights improve to 26-2 with 84-75 victory

GREENSBURG, Pa. – Gannon will enter the PSAC Tournament riding a school-record 15-game winning streak thanks to a hard-earned 84-75 win at Seton Hill on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Knights wrap up the regular season with a 26-2 record and 20-2 ledger in the PSAC West while snapping Seton Hill's three-game winning streak. Gannon came in ranked fourth in the latest D2CSC Media poll and fifth in the NABC Top 25. The Griffins are now 16-12 and 11-11, respectively.

The Golden Knights had earlier clinched the top seed in the PSAC Tournament and Saturday's win gave Gannon the outright Western Division championship. Picked to finish seventh in the division at the start of the season, Gannon finished a game ahead of California (Pa.) with first-year head coach Jordan Fee at the helm. It is the fourth time Gannon has won the PSAC West.

The 26 wins are the most ever by a first-year coach at Gannon, bettering the mark of 25 set by Ed Sparling in 1974-75. The 26 wins are tied for the third-highest win total in a season. The 2007-08 team finished at 26-5.

Win number 26 certainly didn't come easy, but over the second half of the season the Golden Knights have proven they are more than capable of winning tight contests. Seton Hill had battled the Golden Knights to the very end in the first meeting, an 83-79 victory at the Hagerty Family Events Center in January.

LITTLE SPURTS LEAD TO BIG WIN
Saturday's game featured four lead changes and seven ties. The Griffins led for much of the first half, at one point by seven points, before Gannon scored the final five points of the half to head to intermission with a 43-40 lead.

The Griffins ran off seven straight points early in the second half to match their largest lead of the game at 53-46 with 17:34 remaining. The Golden Knights answered with the next nine points while holding Seton Hill scoreless for almost three minutes. Josh Omojafo (Hamilton, Ontario/St. Jean de Brebeuf) began the run with a pair of free throws and Derrick James (Columbus, Ohio/Canal Winchester) and Mike Montano (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) followed with layups. Two Nathan Schneider (Kersey, Pa./St. Marys Area) free throws gave the lead back to Gannon at 54-53.

Seton Hill climbed on top one more time at 58-57 on a 3-pointer by Dmitri Sklavenitis at the 12:06 mark, but Zachary Hobbs' (Gilbert, Ariz./Mesa) 3-pointer gave Gannon the lead for good at 60-58 with 10:45 left to play.

Neither team would score over the next three minutes before Omojafo knocked down a three at 7:52 for a 63-58 lead. Sklaventis, who led all scorers with 30 points, hit a three with under five minutes to play to cut the deficit to one point at 71-70.

Gannon had one spurt remaining, this one putting away the Griffins. Lyle Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Philadelphia Montgomery Christian Academy) was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws. James scored on a layup and made one of two free throws, and Omojafo also made one of two at the charity stripe to cap a run of seven straight points and make it 78-70. Gannon held Seton Hill without a point for over three minutes. The Golden Knights went six-of-eight at the line the rest of the way to close out the win.

OMOJAFO LEADS BALANCED ATTACK
Omojafo led Gannon with 24 points, the 15th game of 20-or-more points for the 6-foot-5 sophomore. He made 6-of-10 shots, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, and went 10-of-12 at the line. In the process he tied the school record for free throws attempted in a season with 232, matching Butch Warner's record set in 1984-85. He previously broke Warner's record for free throws made with his total now standing at 188.

Nigel Haughton (Bel Air, Md./South Kent) and Ernest Shelton (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) were also in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Haughton enjoyed his usually effective game, and in fact did not miss a shot. He was 4-for-4 from the floor, making his lone 3-point attempt, along with 4-of-4 at the line. The 6-foot-3 guard added three rebounds, five assists and a steal. Shelton made good on 4-of-7 shots with a pair of 3-pointers.

Hobbs added nine points, including a pair of 3-pointers that moved him into a tie for tenth in 3-pointers made in a season with 71, and James scored eight points with three assists. Freshman Mike Montano (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) provided a big inside presence with six points, a team-high eight rebounds, and five blocks to match his season high. That came in the first meeting with Seton Hill.  

BY THE NUMBERS
Gannon was held to a season-low 52 shots, making 25 (48.1 pct.), and Seton Hill became just the sixth team to take more shots than the Golden Knights. The Griffins were held to just 36.5 percent (23-of-63). Gannon made 8-of-18 3-pointers and Seton Hill came in at 11-of-33.

But the Golden Knights took full advantage of the charity stripe. Gannon made 26-of-33 free throws while the Griffins were 18-of-27. That helped offset a dominant performance by the Griffins on the glass. Seton Hill outrebounded Gannon 48-29.

WHAT'S UP NEXT
Gannon now awaits Monday's first-round PSAC games to find out its next opponent. The Golden Knights will host a PSAC Quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of Monday's first-round game between No. 4 seed Indiana (Pa.) and No. 5 seed Mercyhurst.
The highest-remaining Western Division seed following Wednesday's quarterfinals will host the PSAC Final Four on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10.
 
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