WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College dropped an overtime thriller against Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Chatham, 74-72.
 
The last time W&J squared off in an overtime bout was last season against Geneva. Then the Presidents escaped with a narrow 92-89 victory in Salvitti Family Gymnasium, Wednesday (Feb. 7). W&J now moves to 4-2 overall on the season and 2-1 in conference play. Chatham lifts to a 5-1 overall record and an untarnished 4-0 record in the PAC.
 
Freshman Michael Plasko (McDonald, Pa./ South Fayette) led the Presidents in scoring with a season-high 21 points. He shot eight-for-13 (61.5) mark from the field and four-for-five (80.0) from beyond the arc. Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb) and Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) each crashed the boards for 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
 
The Cougars jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first half including an 11-0 unanswered run following a Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) three-point field goal. Plotner halted the run with a layup in the paint. A catch-and-shoot three from Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) sparked a 11-2 run including another three knocked down by Rowell and made free throw to cut the Cougar lead to three.
 
With 1:40 remaining, a triple by Plasko gave W&J their first lead of the bout. A mid-range jumper by Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) ended the scoring for the Presidents to take a 35-32 lead into the half.
 
Chatham evened the score at 35 to open the second half following a slew of lead changes. The Cougars jumped out to a short-lived 46-40 lead before the Presidents brought it within two courtesy of shots made by Plasko and Seidl. After regrowing their second half lead to 10, the Presidents mustered another comeback push with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Burlenski and Plasko drilled shots from beyond the arc along with a tipin layup made by Acosta aided the Presidents in moving with two points from evening the score. Another triple by Burlenski and layup made by Acosta granted the Presidents their second lead of the half, 61-60. With a 65-63 lead and 20 seconds remaining, Plasko logged the final score of the half to send the matchup into overtime, 65-65.
 
After a back-and-forth start to the shortened extra period, The Presidents held a 71-69 lead with 2:27 remaining off a split trip to the charity stripe. Chatham proceeded to score five consecutive points, holding a three-point lead with 14 seconds remaining. A foul with seconds remaining granted W&J an opportunity to tie the bout but to no avail as the missed free throw attempt was quickly snatched by a Cougar defender.
 
W&J controlled the paint with a 24-20 point advantage while holding a high mark in bench points with 30 points to Chatham's six. The Cougars controlled the boards with a 43-35 advantage in rebounding along with a 10-2 lift in second chance points.
 
The Presidents enter a brief break for the holiday before traveling north to face Grove City in a midweek bout on Wednesday (Dec. 4). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.