WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team fell at home to Thiel, 61-53, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action from the Henry Memorial Center.

With the loss, the Presidents slide to 0-8 on the season with an 0-2 mark in the PAC. The Tomcats improve to 4-5 this year and 2-1 in league action.

After building a nine-point lead with 6:24 remaining in the first half, 25-16, W&J was unable to record another point the rest of the opening period and went without a field goal for the final 8:53 of the first half. Thiel worked back using a 9-0 run to close the opening 20 minutes to send the teams into halftime tied, 25-25.

Doug Johnson knocked down a triple 1:24 into the second to push W&J back ahead, 28-25, but the squads played back-and-forth the majority of the next 15 minutes.

A jumper by Tyler Haas made it a one-point game, 46-45, at the 7:45 mark, but Thiel used a 6-0 run to build the lead to seven points. A jumper by Johnson, a put-back layup by Mitch Locher and a layup by Adam Robison in a 1:43 span brought W&J within a point, 52-51, with 1:43 to go, but senior Josh Johnson knocked down a three-pointer on the ensuing trip down the court to push the Tomcats lead back to four points.

The Tomcats used six free throws in the final minute to hold on for the 61-53 victory.

Mike Resnik led W&J with 14 points and added five rebounds and three steals. Haas finished with nine points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.

The Presidents return to the court on Monday, Dec. 22, hosting Penn State DuBois at 7 p.m. in non-conference play.