What college has Western Pennsylvania's highest-ranked men's basketball team?

Here's a hint. It isn't IUP, which is No. 6 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II poll.

No, Western Pennsylvania's highest-ranked men's team happens to be at Penn State University's Beaver Campus near Monaca.

In the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association poll, Penn State Beaver was tied with Penn State DuBois at No. 3. But Beaver figures either to hold the No. 3 spot by itself or move up a notch after defeating DuBois, 87-79, Monday night.

OK, so the USCAA is made up of just 64 small colleges in 24 states, many of which are branch campuses of larger universities, such as Penn State Beaver.

Being ranked No. 3 in the USCAA is sort of like being ranked No. 3 in the WPIAL in Class A.

Penn State Beaver, which is 16-6 overall, is also 13-0 and atop the West Division standings in the Penn State University Athletic Conference, which includes the university's 13 basketball-playing branch campuses. Beaver is the defending PSUAC champion, has the best record in the conference this season and is in line to be the host school for the PSUAC semifinals and final Feb. 20-21.

"The last couple years, the semis and the finals were at the Bryce Jordan Center at the main campus, but there were some scheduling conflicts this year, so they will be at the highest seed remaining after the first round," Penn State Beaver coach Marcess Williams said.

"If we take care of business the rest of the way, we should be the top seed for the playoffs. Of course, we'll have to win our first playoff game."

Williams, a New Brighton High School and La Roche College graduate, is in his fifth season as Penn State Beaver's coach and has a solid team that he hopes will again challenge for the USCAA title this season. Beaver was the USCAA runner-up last year.

Zack Fetchin, a Hopewell High School graduate who is averaging 21 points a game, is the team's leading scorer. Sophomore Anthony McPherson from Center High School scored 35 points in the victory against Penn State DuBois, which is in second place in the West Division. He is averaging 12 points per game.

Junior Billy Stoughton, a Slippery Rock High School graduate, and sophomore Tony Houghton from Perry Traditional Academy are at 10 points per game.

Five of Penn State Beaver's six losses have come against Presidents' Athletic Conference schools -- Thiel and Geneva have beaten Beaver twice and the other loss was to Grove City -- but Williams points out his team is more than competitive against those NCAA Division III schools.

"We beat Waynesburg this year and lost to Thiel in overtime," he said.

"Last year, we beat Geneva, so we're close to being on a par with those teams. The thing with playing the PAC schools is that, other than Geneva, they don't want to come to our place to play."

Williams added that Penn State Beaver and the university's other branch campus basketball teams provide another option for athletes who want to continue playing basketball competitively but perhaps are not Division II caliber players and can't afford to attend a PAC school.

"We're a four-year program and now with the USCAA and the [Penn State University Athletic] conference, we have titles to play for," he said. "And the competition we play is good. We played IUP this year."

Penn State Beaver has three PSUAC games remaining in the regular season. It plays at Penn College in Williamsport at 3 p.m. Saturday. The top remaining contest on the schedule is at 3 p.m. Feb. 13 at Penn State DuBois.

When the Seton Hill men's team defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 76-73, Monday it was the 100th victory for the program, which is in its seventh season. It also was the 100th victory for head coach Tony Morocco.

Ryne Murray scored 22 points in Westminster's 87-70 victory against Waynesburg on Wednesday to move into 10th place on the Titans all-time scoring list. Murray, an Upper St. Clair High graduate who is averaging 21.2 points per game, has 1,415 career points.

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