Hot Shooting Leads W&J Past Waynesburg
WASHINGTON, Pa. – Washington & Jefferson College shot a season-best 61 percent (39-64) from the field and reached the 100-point mark for the first time since 2010 during a 100-84 Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball victory over Waynesburg on Wednesday at the Henry Memorial Center.
Senior guard Zach Bellhy (Fort Cherry, Pa./McDonald) led four Presidents with double figure scoring totals with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He added seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. His younger brother, sophomore forward Nate Bellhy (Fort Cherry, Pa./McDonald), collected 13 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double.
W&J connected on nine of its first 11 shots and raced out to a 19-12 lead early in the first half. A three-pointer from freshman guard Nick Martin (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) extended the advantage to 15 points, a lead that W&J took into halftime at 51-36.
The Presidents continued to pour it on during the final 20 minutes. Zach Bellhy netted 14 second-half points and his jumper at the 7:18 mark gave W&J its biggest lead at 25 points.
Sophomore guard Jake Swan’s (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) three-point play with three seconds remaining lifted W&J its first 100-point game since Dec. 7, 2010, when it downed Penn State-Fayette 105-83 at the Henry Memorial Center.
The Presidents received 44 points from their bench , including sophomore Mike Resnik (White Oak, Pa./McKeesport) (17 pts., 7-9 FG) and junior Brett Rubin-Goldstein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel), who netted 14 (6-10 FG). Senior forward Ben Cecchini (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown) contributed seven assists and six rebounds.
The Presidents (4-9, 3-2 PAC) out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets (5-8, 0-5 PAC) 40-35. Waynesburg shot 37 percent from the field (23-62) and was paced by 16 points from Casey Hope.
W&J hosts Penn State-DuBois in its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
