WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team was defeated by Thomas More in the regular season finale, 65-60, on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.
The Presidents opened the game by scoring the first seven points, five from
Sean Stinelli (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford). Then, after the Saints pulled to within three points, the Presidents used an 11-0 run to build a 28-14 lead.
Alex Richards (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) started the run with a three-pointer followed by two more triples from
Mike Zappala (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel). The Presidents were held to just six points over the final 7:07 of the half but still held a 34-25 lead at halftime.
After a
Brian Graytok (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) layup opened the second half, the Saints scored 20 of the next 22 points in the game, 13 in a row at one point, to take a 45-38 lead with 12:15 left to play. The Presidents were unable to recover from the Saints' long run as they managed to outscore Thomas More just 22-20 the rest of the way to yield the final margin.
Stinelli finished with a game-high 26 points and made 6-of-12 long range shots to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. This was Stinelli's fourth 20-point game of the season, second against Thomas More, and his 11th straight game in double-figure scoring. Stinelli's six triples also marked the fourth time this season he's made at least six in a game and the second time he accomplished the feat against the Saints.
Zappala scored 11 points in the game, pulled down four rebounds and blocked two shots while Graytok brought in five boards and dropped six dimes, the fifth time this season he totaled at least six assists with all five of those occurrances coming in the last six contests.
W&J shot 42.3 percent from the field in the game, including 50 percent in the first half (13-for-26), while the Presidents' bench outscored the Saints' bench, 10-8.
Highlights:
Stinelli hits his third long ball in a row to give the Presidents an early 13-6 lead