WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team won their Presidents' Athletic Conference Quarterfinal matchup against Franciscan, 73-62.
This marks the first PAC Tournament and Quarterfinal victory since the 2022-23 season, downing the Grove City Wolverines in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. With the win tonight, W&J posted their fifth 20-win season in school history and third in the past four years.
Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South),
Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and
Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) all led the Presidents in scoring with 15 points each.
Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va./Ravenswood) rounded out the Presidents' scorers in double figures with 13 points. Rowell led the team in steal with four steals accompanied by Seidl with three of his own.
The Barons got on the board first and out to an early lead in the Presidents first PAC Tournament berth since the 2022-23 season, 13-6. A three-point possession involving Rowell and
Michael Plasko (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) sparked a brief scoring run for the Presidents, bringing the Franciscan lead to one, 13-12. W&J, remaining within four or less points for the bulk of the opening half, was eventually equalized at the 5:20 mark as Carte made his first free throw off a shooting foul. Carte sunk his second shot at the charity stripe to give the Presidents their first lead of matchup, 26-25.
Seidl elevated the W&J lead to four briefly after the first lead change, draining a triple off the dish from Plotner. Freshman
Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) found his way to the free-throw line for three attempts after getting hacked on an attempted shot from range, sinking all three to give the Presidents' their largest lead of the game, 32-27. Heading into the half, W&J maintained a 34-31 advantage over Franciscan.
Trading buckets out of the halftime break, the Presidents managed a slim 41-38 lead with 17:15 remaining. Minutes following, the Barons regained the lead with a driving layup, 45-43. Rowell and Plotner issued a rapid response to regain the lead yet again at the 11:57 mark, 48-47. Back-to-back layups by Seidl elevated the W&J lead to 55-47 with under eight minutes remaining. The Presidents defense and transition offense paid dividends as Rowell picked up a steal, going coast-to-coast for an energizing dunk with 6:07 remaining. Carrying a nine-point lead for the remainder of the game, Rowell capped the quarterfinal victory with a windmill dunk to seal to contest, 73-62.
Despite being outrebounded (35-32), W&J held advantages in bench points (20-14), paint points (38-32), fast break points (13-10) and points off of turnovers (16-15).
Men's Basketball now travels to Latrobe, Pa. to square off with Saint Vincent this Thursday (Feb. 27), in the PAC Tournament Semifinals. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
