PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Chatham Men's Basketball (18-8, 15-5) pulled out a thrilling double overtime victory against the Bethany Bison (9-17, 8-12) on Tuesday night in the PAC Quarterfinal at the AFC. The Cougars advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive year and will face the #2 seed Saint Vincent Bearcats.

Senior Simon Boyer led the game in scoring with 29 points on 6-15 shooting, including five threes, and 12-13 shooting from the free throw line. Graduate student Elijah Sutton scored 27 points on 10-23 shooting, including 16 points in overtime, and added 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Junior Blaine Gartley flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 18 points, nine steals, seven assists and six rebounds. Gartley's nine steals tied the program's single game record, set by Nick Bomar at Franciscan on Feb. 19, 2022. Senior Luca Robinson secured a double-double of his own with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Diaun Pinkett scored five points, grabbed 12 boards and racked up three steals to bring his season total to 61, which sets a new single-season program record for steals, surpassing Gartley's 60 from last season.

Sutton opened the game's scoring with a jumper, but Bethany scored the next five points to take their first lead of the night. The Cougars would respond with an 11-5 run that began with a Boyer three to take a 13-10 lead, but Bison hit a three of their own to tie the game once more. Boyer then scored the next nine Chatham points as part of an 11-2 run, but Bethany answered with a 12-2 swing to take a 27-26 lead at 4:01 of the first half. The two teams traded the lead six times in the final four minutes, resulting in a 37-35 Bison lead going into the halftime break.

The Cougars started the second half on a 9-2 run which was bookended by layups from Gartley, giving them a five-point advantage with 17:36 left. The Bison pulled within one before seven straight from the Cougars grew the lead back to eight. Bethany went on a 12-6 swing over the next three-plus minutes to make it 57-55 with 9:48 left. Chatham threatened to pull away with another 6-0 run, but Bethany had a 13-5 advantage over the last eight minutes to tie the game at 68. The Bison held the ball for the final shot, but Gartley came up with a steal and hoisted a desperation three at the buzzer, which did not fall as the two teams headed to overtime.

Bethany took the first lead of OT with a pair of free throws, but seven straight connections at the charity stripe from Boyer (5) and Sutton (2), gave Chatham a five-point lead with 1:40 left. The two teams traded layups in the final minute before a three pointer cut the Cougar lead to just two, and then a steal and foul drawn by the Bison on the ensuing inbound gave Bethany two free throws, on which they converted to tie the game at 77. Senior Geoffrey Helm was unable to connect on a runner at the horn, sending the two teams to double overtime.

Sutton scored the first three points of double OT, but the Bison immediately tied the game at 80 on an and-one. The Cougars then scored the next four with a jumper from Robinson and a pair of free throws from Sutton. Sutton then hit a crucial three-pointer in response to a Bison layup to grow the lead to five, and that lead became eight with two layups from Sutton and two free throws from Gartley with three Bethany points in between. The Bison were fouled shooting a three with 16 seconds left and hit all three to make it 94-90, but it was too little too late as the Cougars escaped with the victory.

Chatham shot 40.8% (31-76) from the field and 33.3% (8-24) from deep while holding Bethany to 36.3% (29-80) from the field and 26.5% (9-34) from deep. The Cougars pulled down 55 rebounds, which is the most in a game in program history, breaking their record from the last time they played Bethany on Jan. 24. Chatham has now won eight games in a row and moves to 11-5 all time in the PAC Tournament.

Men's Basketball will visit the Saint Vincent Bearcats on Thursday night at 7 p.m. for the PAC Semifinal.