PITTSBURGH, Pa – Playing without a pair of starters, the Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team put together a valiant effort in its matchup with defending Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament champion Chatham University. The host Cougars ultimately scored the game's final four points to secure a 74-70 victory.
The loss drops the Presidents to 1-1 in league play and 2-3 overall. The Cougars improve to 1-1 in the PAC and 2-2 overall.
Both teams were pretty evenly matched throughout in a matchup that featured six ties and seven lead changes.
The Presidents led 18-15 after the first 10 minutes of play with Nick Gearhart (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon), Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills), and Josh Chambers (Hanover, Md. / Indian Creek) providing the offense for the Red & Black.
However, Chatham was able to turn the tide in the final 10 minutes of the first half. After a layup by Chambers made it 20-15 Presidents just inside the 10-minute mark, the Cougars ripped off nine-straight points. A layup at the 6:32 mark made it 24-20 in favor of the Cougars. Four-straight free throws int he final minutes of the first half gave Chatham a 10-point advantage. W&J was able to score the final four points of the half. A layup by Chambers trimmed the deficit to 35-29 at the break.
The Cougars took advantage of the Presidents inability to convert free throw opportunities, as they went 1-of-9 from the line in the final 10 minutes of the half. Chatham also held a 12-0 advantage in points off of turnovers in the first half.
The Red and Black would rally back in the first ten minutes of the second half, starting off their scoring with an unassisted triple from Gearhart followed by a layup from Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga. / North Cobb) fed by Seidl. The next five points for the Presidents would come from Gearhart, followed by two good free throws from Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) to make it a one possesion game at 44-41.
Acosta would then make good of two free throws to put them back within one point at 44-43. A jump shot by Seidl put the Presidents back in the lead at 47-46.
A driving layup by Chambers made it a five-point lead for W&J, who led 52-47 with 11:46 to play. A dry spell for W&J offensively helped Chatham use a 9-0 run to regain the lead with a little more than seven minutes to play.
Gearhart scored seven of W&J's final nine points. His basket with 53 seconds left drew W&J even with Chatham at 70-70. The Cougars got a go-ahead layup by Luca Robinson and a pair of free throws by Robinson to secure the win.
Gearhart led the Presidents with 23 points, followed by Seidl (16) and Chambers (11) who also made it into the double digits. Seidl just missed a shot at a double-double, as he pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.
Elijah Sutton posted a game-high 33 points for the Cougars.
W&J will host Carnegie Mellon for a non-conference game on Monday Nov. 20. Tip off at Salvitti Gym is set for 7:00 p.m.