Washington & Jefferson College

WASHINGTON, Pa. – Freshman guard Mike Resnik (White Oak, Pa./McKeesport) buried a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining to give Washington & Jefferson a 64-62 men’s basketball victory over Denison on Saturday afternoon at the Henry Memorial Center.

The three-pointer was the Resnik’s second of the season.  Denison (4-7) had a chance on the ensuing in-bound pass, but Larry Farmer’s off-balanced shot missed left of the rim.

The Big Red scored the first eight points of the game and shot 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes to grab a 30-22 halftime lead.  Denison held the lead for the first six minutes of the second half, but a 13-5 W&J run put the Presidents in front for the first time (38-37) at the 13:43 mark.

Junior forward R.J. Pilato (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) drilled a three-pointer to cap the run. 
The game was tied six times and the lead changed hands on five occasions the rest of the way.

W&J used an 11-2 run to post a 59-50 lead with 5:36 remaining, but the Big Red rallied all the way back and went ahead (62-60) on Larry Farmer’s lay-up with 22 seconds left.

W&J freshman guard Andy Carter (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) was fouled nine seconds later and made 1-of-2 free throws.  Denison missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds remaining and junior guard Zach Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) flew down the court before dishing to Resnik for the game winner.

Bellhy fueled the Presidents’ comeback with 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half.  He added seven rebounds and two assists.  Resnik and Pilato both finished with 10 points and six boards, while Carter also contributed 10 points.  Senior guard Uchenna Okocha (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/University School) scored six points and handed out a career-high eight assists.

W&J shot 38 percent overall (23-of-60) and was out-rebounded by a 40-33 margin; however, the Presidents drained 7-of-14 triples.

Dimonde Hale and Jim Leffew led the Big Red with 12-point afternoons.  DU shot 44 percent (24-of-54), but was hampered by 8-of-17 free throw shooting.

W&J returns to conference play on Wednesday when facing defending PAC Champion Bethany at 8:00 pm.