Saint Vincent Holds Off W&J
LATROBE, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men’s basketball fell to Saint Vincent 76-68 in PAC action at the Carey Center on Saturday night.
The Presidents record dropped to 5-9 overall and 1-4 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play. The Bearcats upped their record to 10-4 (3-2 PAC).
Dennis Bassich drilled five first-half three-pointers and tallied 19 points in all during the first half, helping give Saint Vincent a six-point halftime edge.
The final 20 minutes would be closely contested, featuring four ties and eight lead changes.
With W&J trailing by four points late in the second half, freshman guard Andy Carter (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) sank a layup to cut the deficit in half. After a pair of SVC free throws, junior forward R.J. Pilato (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) answered with another lay-up. However, that is as close as the Presidents would get in the waning moments. Chris Klimchock drained a three-pointer and the Bearcats made 5-of-6 free throws in the final seconds to hold off the Presidents.
Carter led the Presidents with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He also pulled down six rebounds and handed out four assists. The PAC’s leading-scorer, junior Zach Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry), added 16 points, while Pilato chipped in 13 points.
Bassich finished with a game-high 33 points. In all, he drilled eight three-pointers and was 10-of-16 from the field. Ralph Nin posted a double-double for the Bearcats with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Presidents are back in action on Wednesday night when they face Grove City in the second of three-straight road contests (8:00 pm).
