BETHANY, W.Va. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team used a lockdown defensive effort to record a 63-46 road win over Bethany College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at the Hummel Fieldhouse.

The 46 points were a season-low by a W&J opponent. Bethany made just 16-of-59 from the field, which is just 27.1 percent. The Bison made seven-of-24 attempts from three-point range. The Presidents forced the Bison to commit 15 turnovers.

The Presidents move to 4-3 in PAC play and 9-7 overall. The loss drops the Bison to 1-15 overall and 0-7 in league play.

The Presidents came out strong on both ends to build a double-digit lead just eight minutes into the game. After a three-point play by junior guard Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) opened the scoring, the Bison countered with back-to-back baskets to take a 4-3 advantage.

W&J quickly countered with six straight points, which included back-to-back baskets by sophomore guard Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) and senior guard Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic), to take a 9-4 edge at the 16:03 mark.

The Presidents tacked on 11 of the next 12 points to extend the score to 20-5 with 10:01 left in the first half. Back-to-back triples by freshman guard Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) capped the run by the Presidents.

After consecutive baskets by the Bison brought the deficit back to 11 points, the Presidents tallied seven points in a row. That run included a three-pointer by junior guard AJ Blue (Kensington, Md./Sidwell Friends (D.C.) and a layup by sophomore forward Alexander Skowron (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) pushed the Presidents' lead to 18 points (27-9), which was the largest advantage of the first half.

The Bison chipped into that lead, as the hosts used a 10-3 run to bring the score to 30-19 at halftime.

W&J took control after the break, stretching the lead to as many as 20 points (46-26) when Seemann converted a layup with 10:44 to play. The Presidents would maintain a comfortable lead the rest of the way. A pair of late three-pointers by DeVito, including a make with 3:59 to play made the score 59-41. From there the Presidents coasted to victory.

Three Presidents scored in double figures during a balanced attack. Skowron turned in another strong effort off the bench, finishing with 12 points and 8 rebounds. DeVito added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Seemann chipped in 11 points. Sophomore forward Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) posted a game-high 10 rebounds in the victory. 

W&J held advantages in made field goals (24-16), rebounds (45-38), assists (11-6) and steals (8-7) as a team.

The Presidents host Grove City College for a PAC game on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Start time is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.