WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team provided a strong second half effort, but their comeback came up short in the end as Westminster came away with the 62-57 win on Saturday, Dec. 10.

After falling behind 6-0 early in the first half, the Presidents responded with a 7-1 run to even the score. However, after both teams exchanged four points, the Titans went on to outscore the Presidents 21-7 after the 12:32 mark in the half to take a 32-18 lead into halftime.

After the Presidents opened the second half with a 9-4 run, the Titans countered with an 11-2 run to take a 47-29 lead, their largest lead of the game. But, with 9:20 remaining, the Presidents were determined to get back in the game, putting a sizeable dent in the Titans' lead with a 12-1 run over 4:48 of game time. The Presidents shot 4-for-5 on the run and connected on all three of their long range shots. Trailing 48-41 with 4:52 remaining in the game, the Presidents were only able to outscore the Titans 16-14 the rest of the way to yield the final margin.

Brian Graytok (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) led the Presidents offense with 17 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Brian Lindquist (Narvon, Pa./Pequa Valley) finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, pulled in six rebounds and blocked three shots. Graytok's 17 points marked the fifth time this season he's recorded double-digit scoring while Lindquist recorded his fourth straight game with at least six rebounds.

Mike Zappala (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) scored nine points in the game, hitting 3-of-6 three-pointers to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal.

In the second half, the Presidents shot 14-for-26 (.538) from the field, including 5-for-12 (.417) on three's, and held the Titans to just 7-for-24 shooting (.292) from the floor en route to outscoring Westminster 39-30 over the final 20 minutes of play. For the game, the Presidents held the Titans to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and outscored the Titans 28-20 in the paint.

The Presidents will return to the hardwood on Thursday, Dec. 29, when they travel to Westerville, Ohio, to take on Otterbein in game one of two of the Otterbein Holiday Tournament. Tip-off time has yet to be announced.