GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team erased a double-digit halftime deficit to escape with an 84-83 road win Saturday afternoon over the Grove City Wolverines at the College Arena in Mercer County. 

The win improves the Presidents to 9-2 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play and 12-4 overall. The victory gives W&J a one-game lead in the PAC standings over Geneva, Westminster, Allegheny and Chatham, who all sit at 8-3 in conference play. Both Westminster and Geneva lost on Saturday. 

The Presidents, who trailed for the vast majority of the game, erased a 12-point second half deficit to rally for the win. Grove City led by a 63-51 margin with 11:10 to play but W&J used its full court pressure to force 28 Wolverine turnovers. W&J closed the game with a 9-2 run over the final 2:52 to claim the narrow victory. A three-point play by Nick Gearhart(Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) sparked the run. Gearhart then tacked on a pair of free throws on W&J's next possession to trim the deficit to 81-80. 

A pair of free throws by Dirk Daniels (Phillipsburg, N.J. / Blair Academy) gave the Presidents the lead for good at 82-81 with 2:24 to play. Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa,/North Hlls) converted a layup to make it a three-point lead with 1:21 remaining. That would be the last points for the Presidents, who held on for the one-point victory despite missing four free throws in the final 15 seconds. 

Gearhart led the Presidents with 22 points, five rebounds and four steals. Seidl finished with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting performance from the field. Mitchell added 16 points and tallied five steals in the victory. Grove City was paced by Jonah Bock, who posted a game-high 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting from behind the three-point line. 

W&J won despite a lopsided rebounding advantage in favor of Grove City. The home team was +38 in rebounding (65-27) and pulled down 30 offensive rebounds. W&J was able to hold a sizable advantage in turnovers, as they forced 28 while committing just 12 of their own. W&J outscored Grove City by a 44-30 margin in the paint. 

W&J travels to Westminster for a league tilt on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m. in New Wilmington, Pa. The Presidents prevailed by a 75-68 score in the first meeting between the two teams at Salvitti Gymnasium on Nov. 22.