PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team (9-2) pushed their winning streak to six consecutive wins with a 99-77 victory over the La Roche Redhawks (3-8). The win streak was originally started when the Presidents hosted the 2025 Great Lakes Invitational in November.
 
Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) had a dominant night, posting a career-high 33 points. The junior also had four rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Plotner finished the week shooting 73.5 % from the field (25-for-34) while averaging 25.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 4.5 blocks per game.
 
Four other Presidents finished in double figure scoring including Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb) (17), Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va./Ravenswood) (14), Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) (11) and Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) (11). Seidl finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
 
The Presidents opened the contest with an early 18-11 lead over the Redhawks. Layups from Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) and Acosta put W&J ahead 24-15 before La Roche chipped away at the early edge. Up two with six minutes left in the opening half, Acosta and Carte extended the advantage to six with a layup and free throws, 33-27.
 
La Roche knotted the score for the first time since the beginning of the contest at 33 with 4:26 to go. Shortly after, the Redhawks earned their first lead of the game off a made triple, 40-36. A fastbreak layup from Burlenski with 45 second left in the first half gave the Presidents a 41-40 lead heading into the half.
 
Out of the halftime break, each side traded shots to open the second half of action. W&J pulled away in the middle of the half, slowly growing the first double figure lead of the game with a 67-57 advantage. Plotner scored 12 of his 33 points in the final 10 minutes of the contest as the Presidents maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of regulation. Nick Sukernek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), Nick Colucci (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) and Harrison Sowers (Irwin, Pa./Hempfield) added on to the W&J lead as the Presidents coasted to a 99-77 victory.
 
The Presidents were outrebounded 33-29 but managed to take advantage of their opportunities in transition and off of turnovers. W&J held advantages in points off of turnovers (27-9), fast break points (32-9) and points in the paint (66-42).
 
W&J returns to action at the start of 2026 with a conference clash with the Bethany Bison on Wednesday (Jan. 7). Opening tipoff is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.