W&J falls short at first place Grove City, 74-72

GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) fired in a team-high 20 points but the Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team dropped a narrow 74-72 decision to first place Grove City College on Saturday afternoon at the College Arena in Mercer County. 

W&J finishes the regular season with a 9-7 mark in Presidents' Athletic Conference and 14-11 overall. Grove City moves its record to 13-3 in conference play and 17-8 overall. 
 
Zach Queen (Jeannette, Pa./Hempfield) finished with 14 points, which included a 4-for-9 effort behind the three-point line. Alexander Skowron (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) added 12 points off of the bench. 
 
Both teams shot the ball well in the opening half. The Presidents made 13-of-28 field goal attempts over the first 20 minutes while the Wolverines connected on 14-of-30 shots in the first half. 
 
Neither team led by more than five points over the first 10 minutes of play. Back-to-back baskets by Skowron and Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) evened the score at 20-20 with 9:31 to play in the first half. Some hot shooting allowed the Wolverines to build a 30-22 lead four minutes later. 
 
Trailing by nine, Seemann drained a three and then Queen followed with a pair of triples to tie the score at 33-33 late in the first half. A tip-in by James Wells gave the Wolverines a 35-33 edge at halftime. 
 
Layups by Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) and Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) early in the second half pulled the Presidents in front by a 37-35 score. Grove City would quickly regain the lead and eventually built a nine-point advantage (56-47) with 9:48 to play. 
 
The Grove City lead swelled to as many as 13 points when a James Wells dunk made the score 62-49 at the 7:48 mark. The Presidents would work themselves back into the game, as a triple by Seemann brought W&J within four (64-60) with 4:38 left. The Wolverines eventually extended the lead to eight (73-65) with less than two minutes to play. 
 
The Presidents, like they have done so many times this season, refused to go quietly down the stretch. Another trey by Queen cut the deficit to 73-70 with 1:15 to play. After a split at the free throw line gave the Wolverines a four-point edge, Skowron drained a pair of free throws to cut the deficit in half. 
 
Grove City missed the front end of the one-and-one at the line on the other end to set W&J up with one last chance to tie or take the lead. However, a three-point shot missed its mark and the Wolverines escaped with the win. 
 
Erik Meiners finished with 21 points to pace the Wolverines. Grove City had three players finish in double figures scoring. 
 
W&J will host Geneva in the PAC Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Salvitti Family Gymnasium. This marks the first time since 2011 that the Presidents have hosted a PAC Tournament game. 
 
The league office will release the official bracket and game times later this evening following the conclusion of the regular season.