WAYNESBURG, Pa. – Washington & Jefferson nearly came all the way back from a 22-point deficit before coming up just short and falling at Waynesburg 75-69 in PAC men's basketball action at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

The Yellow Jackets (7-7, 2-3 PAC) defeated the Presidents (6-7, 2-3 PAC) for the first time on their home floor since the 2003-04 season.

The score was knotted 9-9 after seven minutes of play, but Waynesburg surged ahead with a 23-5 run to grab a 32-14 lead after a Christian Koroly layup at the 5:09 mark. W&J closed to within 40-25 at halftime after junior forward Nate Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) scored in the final minute.

BJ Durham's free throw after a three-pointer stretched the Yellow Jacket advantage to 55-33 at the 14:31 mark of the second half. W&J chipped away at the deficit and eventually closed to within 71-67 with 2:21 to play after junior forward Mitch Locher's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) dunk. A pair of Bellhy free throws narrowed the gap to 72-69 with 21 seconds left, but three WU free throws closed the door on the Presidents.

Waynesburg won despite going the last six minutes of the game without a made field goal. The Yellow Jackets made 25-of-39 foul shots and shot 39 percent overall (22-57). Koroly scored all 14 of his team-high point total in the first half.

Bellhy paced the Presidents with 27 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Nick Martin (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while senior guard Brett Rubin-Goldstein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) pitched in with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench.

W&J out-rebounded Waynesburg 44-37 and made 19-of-21 free throws, but shot just 36 percent overall (24-66). In the first half, WU limited the Presidents to 7-of-32 shooting (22 percent).

The Presidents round out the non-conference portion of their 2013-14 schedule Saturday at Penn State-DuBois (3:00 pm).