Hiram Out-rebounds Its Way To 85-66 Victory At W&J
WASHINGTON, Pa. – Hiram used a 41-28 rebound advantage and scored 26 second-chance points during its 85-66 non-conference men’s basketball victory over Washington & Jefferson on Sunday afternoon at the Henry Memorial Center.
W&J junior guard Zach Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) tied a career high with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while junior forward R.J. Pilato (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) also netted a career high with 17.
Bellhy scored 11 of the Presidents’ first 15 points as W&J led by three points with 12:46 left in the first half. Hiram answered with a 14-2 spurt and the Terriers (5-3) never trailed the rest of the way. Alan Sheppard made a jumper in the lane with five seconds left in the half for a 42-37 HC lead.
Bellhy’s triple in the opening seconds of the second half closed the Presidents to within 42-40, but the Terriers scored 19 of the next 24 points to open a 61-45 advantage at the 13:56 mark. W&J was unable to bring the lead to under double digits for the remainder of the game.
Andrew Weigand made his first eight shots from the field and finished with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting (4-of-4 free throws). He also grabbed five offensive rebounds. Sheppard contributed 17 points for the Terriers, who shot 48 percent (32-of-67). Hiram made 9-of-23 three-pointers and was opportunistic in transition with 25 points off of 14 W&J turnovers.
Bellhy added four rebounds, three steals and two assists for the Presidents, while Pilato had five boards. W&J shot 43 percent (23-of-53), including 55 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
The Presidents (4-6) will play their second of three-straight games against North Coast Athletic Conference opponents on Dec. 29 at Kenyon (7:30 pm). W&J closes 2011 at home on Dec. 31 against Denison (2:00 pm).
