BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team knocked off defending NEAC champions Morrisville State 63-59 at the Buffalo State Coles Classic to begin the season 3-0 for the first time since the 1993-94 season.
 
Trailing 58-57 with under two minutes remaining, sophomore Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) attacked the rim, scored a go-ahead layup and was fouled on the play. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play and hand the Presidents a two-point lead.
 
Following single made free throws by Morrisville State and senior Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic), the Mustangs had the ball down two with 16 seconds remaining. Morrisville's Jon Brennan drove to the basket but was rejected by Nicholas Campalong (Sewickley, Pa./Ambridge).
 
Following the block, Zini knocked down a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to ice the game.
 
The Presidents built a 38-29 halftime lead with a strong shooting performance in the game's first 20 minutes. W&J connected on eight-of-12 (66.7%) first half three and shot 14-of-25 (56.0%) for the half.
 
 After a back-and-forth first 10 minutes of play, an Adam Alexander (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) three tied the game at 18. The Mustangs scored the next four points to build a 22-18 advantage with 8:33 remaining in the first half.
 
The Presidents responded with a 20-7 run to close the half that included three three-pointers by Zach Queen(Jeannette, Pa./Hempfield Area) and two from DeVito. Queen's final three of the period handed the Presidents a 38-29 halftime advantage.
 
Over the course of the second half, Morrisville State trimmed the Presidents' lead to a single point seven times without taking the lead. The Mustangs finally took a 58-57 lead with 2:05 left in regulation on a fastbreak layup by Ismael Chisholm.
 
Despite shooting only 33% (8-of-24) and 1-of-10 from three in the second half, the Presidents connected of eight-of-nine (88.89%) free throws over the final 20 minutes.
 
Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) was the fourth different President to lead W&J in scoring this season with 17 points and eight rebounds.
 
Queen knocked down four threes to finish with 12 points and Zini added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. DeVito made two threes on his way to seven points and four assists.
 
The Presidents connected on 22-of-49 (44.9%) shots from the field while holding Morrisville to 37.9% (25-of-66). The Presidents limited Morrisville State to 4-of-23 (17.4%) from three and only allowed eight free throw attempts.
 
W&J won the rebounding battle 37-32 and connected on 9-of-22 threes (40.9%).
 
The last time W&J started 3-0, the Presidents went on to finish 22-3, win the PAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the only time in program history.
 
The Presidents advance to the Buffalo State Tournament championship game against host Buffalo State tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.