WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team saw its upset bid come up short in a 73-70 loss to unbeaten Saint Vincent Saturday afternoon in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium. 

The Presidents (2-12, 1-8 PAC) led by nine points with 5:30 remaining and by four with less than two minutes to play, before a late run gave the Bearcats (14-0, 9-0 PAC) the victory. 
 
The first half was a back-and-forth struggle for the two teams offensively. with both holding the lead for roughly the same amount of time throughout the 20 minutes. The Presidents came out with gumption as they secured an 8-4 lead when Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb) converted a three-point play at the 15:53 mark. The Bearcats would answer with the next eight points to gain 13-8 lead, its largest advantage of the game at five.
 
A little later, Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg) would tie things up at 15-15 with a good layup at the 11:01 mark. The power struggle would continue for only a few minutes more until the duo of Brandon Jakiela (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) and Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga. / North Cobb) tied things up and gained the final lead change of the half. Trailing 22-19, the duo accounted for the next eight points to give W&J a 27-22 at the 4:43 mark. Saint Vincent responded with five-straight points to tie the score before W&J eventually took a 35-33 lead into the break. 
 
W&J was on fire out the halftime huddle, going on an 8-2 run to take a 43-35 lead with 16:36 to go. Saint Vincent answered with their own 12-4 point run that would tie things up at 47 with 10:12 minutes left in the game. The Presidents then gained some momentum with three good buckets from Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills), Jakiela, and Josh Chambers (Hanover, Md. / Indian Creek) respectively and going 6-6 at the charity stripe with two from Plotner and four from Nick Gearhart (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon) to swell the lead to 59-50. The nine-point lead was the largest of the game for W&J.
 
A combination of solid defense and abundant free throw attempts would help the Bearcats overtake the Presidents in the final few minutes of the game. After a dunk by Acosta made it 68-64 with just 1:48 to play, Saint Vincent responded with the next five points. A three-pointer with 1:28 to play trimmed the deficit to 68-67. Afetr a missed three-pointer by W&J, the visitors were fouled in the back court and converted a pair of free throws to take a 69-68 advantage with 46 seconds to play. A layup by Seidl pushed W&J back in front at 70-69 with 28 seconds to play. 

Osyon Jones would secure the win for the Bearcats with a layup with 10 seconds to play. Jones was then fouled and converted a pair of free throws to finish off the comeback victory.
 
Acosta put together another strong effort in the loss. The sophomore registered his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds. 

Jakiela and Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va. / Ravenswood) also finished in the double digits as they finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Seidl led the team with four assists. Seidl and Jakiela each had two blocks.
 
The Presidents will be back in action at Westminster on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Start time is scheduled for 8 p.m.