GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team suffered an 80-75 setback that allowed the host Grove City College Wolverines to secure a season sweep Wednesday night in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at the Grove City College Arena.
 
The loss drops the Presidents to 8-16 overall and 7-12 in conference. The Wolverines improve to 13-11 and 9-10 in PAC play. The win allowed Grove City to secure its spot in next week's six-team PAC Tournament. 
 
Grove City kicked off the scoring, grabbing a quick 8-4 lead in the first four minutes of play. Layups by Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills) and Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga. / North Cobb) would tie things up 8-8 at the 15:48 mark. After basket by the Wolverines, Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va. / Ravenswood) would sink a three-pointer to help W&J take its first lead of the game.
 
The Red & Black would maintain their lead until the 8:17 mark where Grove City would make two consecutive layups to regain the lead at 27-25. The Wolverines would extend their lead to as many as six points late in the first half. W&J's press picked things up late in the final few minutes to allow the visitors to surge into a 40-38 lead at halftime. Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) would start things with a layup before Seidl converted back-to-back field goals to even the score at 38 all with 49 seconds left until half. Following a stop on the defensive end, Acosta would convert on the offensive end to help W&J take the narrow lead into the locker room. 
 
W&J would open the second half with an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the game. Carte contributed seven points during the spurt, which included a successful shot from behind the three-point line. A layup by the freshman extended W&J's lead to 51-40 at the 17:48 mark. Grove City would quickly answer back, using some hot outside shooting from Chase Yarberough to put together a 16-5 run to draw even. Back-to-back triples by Yarberough evened the score at 56-56 with 11:19 to play in the second half. 
 
Grove City would take and keep the lead over the next three minutes until a good three-pointer by J.R. Mazza (Bridgeport, W.Va./University) would tie things again, this time at 63-63, with 7:35 left. Both teams would trade the lead until the Presidents went cold for the final 2:30 of the game. The Wolverines took advantage of the scoreless minutes and scored the final six points of the game to secure the 80-75 win. With a chance to tie or regain the lead, W&J missed a pair of free throws and a layup before seeing Yarberough bury a three-pointer which all but put things out of reach with 34 seconds to play. 
 
Four Presidents finished in the double digits. Carte and Plotner tied for the team high with 15 points apiece. Acosta and Mazza each finished with 14 points. Seidl tallied a game-high seven assists. Acosta accounted for a team-high nine rebounds to just miss out on a double-double. Plotner recorded three blocks.
 
W&J shot the ball well throughout the evening. The visitors finished 28 of 60 (46.7 percent) from the field. Grove City was slightly more efficient, converting 33 of 65 (50.8 percent) attempts. W&J led in bench points (33-12) and narrowly in points off turnovers (11-9).
 
W&J hosts Allegheny for Senior Day on Saturday, February 17. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. in the Salvitti Family Gymnasium.