WAYNESBURG, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team tallied the final six points as they earned a hard-fought 88-86 victory Saturday afternoon over the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. 

The Presidents trailed for large portion of the game including by double digits in the second half before the late heroics. Trailing by four points with just 1:14 to play, Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) drained a three-pointer and Nick Gearhart (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) gave W&J the lead for good with a pair of free throws with just 22 seconds to play. A pair of late defensive stops and a split at the free throw line by Seidl helped W&J walk away with the narrow win. 

Seidl poured in a team-high 23 points off the bench for the Presidents. Three others joined him in double figures. Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) posted a double-double with 19 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. J.R. Mazza (Bridgeport, W.Va./University) tossed in 16 points which included four made three-point field goals. Gearhart rounded out the quartet with 11 markers. 

The teams traded points throughout a largely competitive first half. A jumper by Michael Bigley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) at the 8:02 mark gave W&J a 26-25 lead over Waynesburg. The hosts countered with 10-straight points to take a nine-point lead at 35-26 with 6:18 to play in the opening half. The lead swelled to 11 points when a jumper gave Waynesburg a 42-31 advantage at the 3:48 mark. The Presidents cut into that deficit for the remainder of the half, however. Seidl accounted for five W&J points in the final 1:32 of the half to cut the Waynesburg lead to 50-44 at the break. 

Waynesburg remained in control of the lead for more than 13 minutes of play in the second half before a three-point field goal by Mazza evened the score at 74-74 with 6:39 to play. A fastbreak layup by Gearhart helped W&J regain the lead (77-76) at the 6:13 mark. Waynesburg regained the lead multiple times down the stretch only to see W&J tie the score on baskets by Mitchell. After  alayup by Mitchell with 2:43 to play, Waynesburg built a four-point lead on four successful free throws before W&J tallied the final six points of the game. 

W&J held advantages in bench points (37-23), points off turnovers (23-17) and fast break points (23-17) while Waynesburg led in points in the paint (42-34). The score was tied seven times and the game included 13 lead changes. Antone Baker of Waynesburg led all players with 25 points and 16 rebounds. 

The win allows W&J to remain in sole possession of first place in the PAC standings. The Presidents improve to 14-4 in the PAC and 17-6 overall. W&J is a half game ahead of Allegheny (14-5) and a game ahead of Geneva (13-5). The Presidents travel to Geneva on Wednesday, Feb. 15 for a key conference matchup. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.