WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team held the Presidents' Athletic Conference's (PAC) top-ranked scoring offense to a season-low output as the Presidents handed Chatham its first conference defeat of the season 63-51 at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

W&J (7-3, 2-1 PAC) held Chatham to its season-low in points after Chatham carried a 79.4 points per game scoring average into the contest. The Presidents held the Cougars to 19-of-60 (31.7 percent) from the field and a season-low 3-of-20 (15.0 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
Both teams shot poorly from distance as each team registered three three-point makes for the entire game with W&J shooting 17.6 percent (3-of-17) and Chatham shooting 15.0 percent (3-of-20).
 
Despite the three-point shooting woes, W&J found other ways to control the game. The Presidents owned significant advantages in bench points (33-14), points off turnovers (20-6), points in the pain (36-26) and second chance points (15-5).
 
W&J held a 52-39 rebounding edge and made 18-of-24 (75 percent) free throws compared to 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) for Chatham.
 
The Presidents owned a six-point halftime lead and broke the game open with a 14-2 second-half run than spanned over six minutes of game time. Chatham's Will Sandherr knocked down a three to keep the Cougars within eight, down 36-28 with 15:08 left in regulation before W&J embarked on its game-altering run.
 
Alexander Skowron (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) scored on back-to-back trips of nifty feeds from Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) and AJ Blue (Kensington, Md./Sidwell Friends (D.C.)). Blue connected with Adam Alexander (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) for another lay-in to make it six-straight President points.
 
Following a Chatham jumper, Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) converted a three-point play, Jacob Davenport (Camberley, England/Charnwood College) added an acrobatic layup and Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) capped the run with a three, handing W&J a 48-30 advantage with 9:01 left in regulation.
 
Down the stretch, Mitchell knocked down a three and W&J got back-to-back baskets from DeVito and Davenport to push the Presidents ahead by as many as 19 (56-37) with 5:51 to play.
 
Chatham trimmed the deficit to seven (56-49) with a 12-0 run, taking advantage of five President turnovers in a four-and-a-half minute span to climb back within striking distance. However, in the game's final 1:08, W&J connected on seven-straight free throws to seal the win.
 
Chatham held a slight lead in the early stage of the game, opening with a Malik Potter three and Will Sandherr jumper to lead 5-2, but that was the largest lead Chatham enjoyed the entire game.
 
DeVito's three-point play gave the Presidents their first lead of the day at 9-7 with 13:56 left in the half and W&J did not trail for the rest of the period.
 
The President bench provided an 8-3 spurt with contributions from Blue, Alexander and Skowron as W&J extended its lead to 17-12 with 11:46 remaining in the first half.
 
Following a pair of Cougar free throws, the Presidents reeled off nine-straight points, five of which were provided by Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler). The W&J lead grew to as many as a dozen points (26-14) with six minutes left in the half.
 
Chatham responded with a 10-2 run over a four-minute span that saw the Presidents miss all nine of their free throw attempts to close the gap to 28-24 with two minutes to play. Agbale's layup with 1:14 left in the half gave the Presidents the 30-24 advantage they would carry into the halftime break.
 
Agbale headlined a balanced scoring attack, recording a team-high 13 points and 11 rebounds for his second collegiate double-double. Skowron recorded a career-high 10 rebounds and chipped in eight points.
 
DeVito finished with 12 points and Blue had nine points, six rebounds and five assists.
 
Through three games, no PAC team is unbeaten. The Presidents sit in a five-way tie for first place at 2-1 in league play.
 
W&J plays at Carnegie Mellon tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. The Presidents resume PAC action Jan. 4 at Westminster.