WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team took an 88-76 victory over the visiting Capital Comets in nonconference play.
 
Coming off a ranked victory over Carnegie Mellon, the Presidents elevate their record to 9-3 overall. The Presidents' Ohio Athletic Conference foe, Capital, drops to 4-6 overall on the season.
 
Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va./Ravenswood) headed the Presidents' scoring efforts with a career-high 20-point performance. Freshman Michael Plasko (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) finished next in scoring for W&J with 19 on the day, shooting 7-for-10 from the field. Despite foul trouble, Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) dropped 12 points with three assists and two blocks. Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) and Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) each added 10 points each while Plotner hauled in nine rebounds.
 
A sporadic start for both offenses led to an early 9-4 Comets lead. Back-to-back paint points from Plotner and Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) brought the Presidents within two, 15-13. Shortly after, the Presidents' full-court press took control as W&J gained their first lead due to points off turnovers. Steals by Carte and Burlenski sparked two layups by Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb) while a fastbreak layup by Plasko gave W&J a 21-17 lead.
 
Lead changes occurred frequently down the stretch until Plotner recovered a missed layup by Seidl for the tip-in bucket to put the Presidents back up three. A Capital triple with seconds remaining before the close of the first half gave the Comets a narrow one-point lead, 36-35.
 
Following a three-point performance by Carte in the opening half, the sophomore guard ripped off 17 second half points. Carte kicked off the scoring for W&J in the second, draining two back-to-back triples from beyond to arc to even the score at 41. Down by four, Carte heaved a prayer from three before the shot clock expired and nailed a center-court shot while getting fouled, tying the score at 48 following the made free throw for the rare four-point play.
 
W&J managed to spark a lead with seven minutes remaining off triple drained by Bulenski, Carte and Seidl to put W&J up 68-62. Scores from Carte, Plasko and Plotner secured the Presidents' 88-76 victory.
 
After not being able to hit a shot from beyond the arc in the first half, the Presidents drilled 7-of-9 shots from three in the second half. W&J also shot 18-of-27 from the field compared to the Comets' 14-of-31 mark.
 
Despite losing the rebounding battle (43-36), the Presidents led in key categories with points off turnover (28-13), fastbreak points (17-13) and points in the paint (44-38).
 
Men's Hoops will enjoy the rest of the holiday season before returning to action on Saturday (Jan. 4) to face Allegheny in their first showing in 2025. Tipoff I scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start.