WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) had 29 points and the Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball pulled out another closely contested win 83-76 over Bethany in the Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
 
The win, along with Geneva's victory over Saint Vincent helped the Presidents secure a top-four seed for the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament and a home quarterfinals matchup for the first time since 2011. With Waynesburg's overtime win at Thiel earlier in the evening, Bethany needed a win against the Presidents to keep its postseason hopes alive.
 
The win pushes W&J to 14-10 on the season and 9-6 in PAC play. The Presidents finish 10-3 at home in the regular season and 7-1 at home against PAC competition.
 
Bethany's Aiden Albert knocked down a three-pointer with 6:47 left in regulation to cap a 7-0 Bethany run and to hand the Bison a 66-63 advantage.
 
Seemann helped the Presidents regain control by cashing in on consecutive possessions. He earned a trip to the free throw line and sunk both attempts to put the Presidents back within one. After a defensive stop, Seemann connected on his fifth three of the game to give the Presidents a 68-66 advantage the Red and Black would not relinquish.
 
Over the final 5:17 of regulation, W&J outscored Bethany 15-10 while shooting 13-of-19 from the free throw line. Seven different Presidents scored over the final five-plus minutes of regulation.
 
Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) snared an offensive rebound after a missed free throw and proceeded to make two free throws in an extended President possession that led to a 76-72 lead. After Bethany trimmed the advantage to two, AJ Blue (Kensington, Md./Sidwell Friends (D.C.)) was fouled in the backcourt and sank another pair of free throws.
 
Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic), Seemann and Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) all sank foul shots in the final minute to help seal the win.
 
Both teams came out firing on all cylinders as each team put up nine quick points in the game's first 4:09. The Presidents started the game three-for-three from three with Seemann connecting on a pair of threes and Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) cashing in on another.
 
Alexander Skowron (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) powered the Presidents to a 14-9 advantage with five-straight points on a three-point play and another layup.
 
Bethany rallied back to take a 16-14 with 12:58 to play after Bethany's Khalil Wilson put in a pair of buckets during a 7-0 run.
 
The lead changed hands five times in the next 3:05 of play, but the Presidents finally emerged with the lead after an Agbale layup and a pair of free throws by Zini put W&J ahead 24-21 with 7:52 left in the half.
 
After a Bethany basket, a DeVito triple and an Agbale layup pushed the President advantage to 29-23 with six minutes to go in the first.
 
Seemann scored seven-straight points for the Presidents during a 7-2 W&J spurt, including a three that handed W&J its largest lead of the half (36-28). However, Bethany held the Presidents off the scoreboard over the final 2:38 of the half and scored the half's final six points to trim the President lead to 36-34 at the break.
 
The start of the second half prior to Bethany's 7-0 run to lead 66-63 with under seven minutes left was extremely competitive as W&J outscored Bethany 27-25 to open the half. DeVito, Blue and Seemann each knocked in a three during this stretch.
 
Seemann's 29 points came on eight-of-12 shooting and included a career-high five made three pointers and an eight-of-nine performance from the charity stripe.
 
DeVito poured in 15 points with three three-pointers, three assists and four steals in a game-high 38 minutes. Skowron had 11 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes while Agbale had 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Zini made nine trips to the free throw line, converted seven and finished with nine points. Blue chipped in seven points.
 
The Presidents knocked in nine-of-21 (42.9 percent) of their threes and were 26-of-34 from the foul line.
 
W&J heads to first-place Grove City on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. for its regular season finale.
 
The Presidents will return to Salvitti Family Gymnasium to host a PAC Quarterfinals game on Tuesday evening.