WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The top-seeded Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team trailed for more than 36 minutes but rallied late to defeat second-seeded Chatham University by a 68-63 score in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
The win improves the Presidents to record to 24-4 overall as the Presidents' record-breaking season will extend into the NCAA Division III Tournament next weekend. The conference title is the 10th in program history and first for W&J since the 1994-95 season. W&J will enter the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993-94 when they advanced all the way to the Elite Eight.
Okikiola Agbale (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler) helped W&J turn the tide in the second half. The senior big man registered a season-high and game-high 18 points off the bench. Agbale converted all six of his field goal attempts and drained six-of-seven free throw attempts in the contest. For his efforts, Agbale was named the PAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Joining Agbale on the All-Tournament Team were sophomores
Nick Gearhart (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) and
J.R. Mazza (Bridgeport, W.Va./University).
Chatham jumped out to an early 9-2 lead less than four minutes into the game. The visiting Cougars stretched the lead into double digits (18-8) when Nick Bomar made a layup with 12:53 to play in the opening half. The Presidents found their footing offensively midway through the first half. W&J used a 10-2 run to close the gap to two (30-28) on a three-pointer by Gearhart at the 4:43 mark. A steal and three-point basket by Malik Potter just before the halftime buzzer gave the Cougars a 38-32 advantage at the break.
A three-pointer by Mazza brought the Presidents within a point, 40-39, less than three minutes into the second half. However, the Cougars continued to hold the lead. The Cougars claimed an eight-point lead (59-51) on a Potter jump shot with 9:18 to play. W&J scored eight consecutive points and pulled within one a layup by Agbale with 3:59 to play. After an exchange of made free throws by both teams, W&J took its first lead on a three-pointer by Mazza that made it 63-61 Presidents with 2:58 to play.
W&J led the rest of the way from there. Following two missed shots and a turnover by the Cougars, Mazza was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted all three free throws too extend the lead to 66-61 with 1:25 left. Chatham made it a single-possession game after a layup by Potter with 16 seconds left but W&J converted two free throws to ice the game.
Agbale (18 points), Mazza (12 points), Gearhart (12 points) all finished in double figures.
Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) joined them with his 12th double-double of the season, as he recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Chatham was led by a double-double effort by Ben Pollock, who scored 11 and added 11 rebounds. The Cougars see their season end at 21-5.
As the winner of the PAC's Championship Tournament, W&J will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to this year's Division III Championship Tournament. Forty-four conferences have been granted automatic qualification to this year's 64-team championship. The selected Division III Championship teams as well as the first and second round site selections will be announced Monday, February 28 on ncaa.com. First and second round games are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 4-5.
