LATROBE Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team used an 11-4 run in the final two minutes and 15 seconds of the game to upset the second seeded Saint Vincent Bearcats in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Semifinals, 87-79.
 
Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va./Ravenswood) charted a game-high 23 points to pace the Presidents offensive efforts. Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) was close behind with 19 points in the outing. Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) and Michael Plasko (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) also hit double digits, scoring 11 and 10, respectively. Rowell, Plotner and Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) all dished out two assists on the evening.
 
Plasko also pulled down a team-high three steals and seven boards. Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb), Seidl and Plotner all recorded six rebounds. Acosta also tallied a game-high two blocks.
 
W&J opened with a steady 18-8 run over the first five minutes and 20 seconds of the game, courtesy of an evenly scoring offense. Six Presidents put up points in the run. Acosta kicked it off with a good jumper followed by three made foul shots by Carte who was fouled beyond the arc in the next play. A three pointer from Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) pushed the deficit to 8-4 in favor of the Red & Black before a layup by Plotner sent the Presidents ahead 10-4.
 
The Red & Black eventually extended the lead to the largest deficit of the contest for either team on a free throw by Rowell at the 10:27 mark in the first quarter, 29-12.
 
Saint Vincent then put up a 27-11 run to end the first half down by one point heading into the final half of play, 40-39.
 
Both teams fought a back-and-forth battle throughout the second half with three ties and each team stealing the lead three times each. W&J claimed the final lead change of the game at the 6:04 mark on a layup from Rowell, 72-70.
 
Offensively in the final six minutes, Rowell contributed two more layups and two free throws. Free throws from Carte, a layup from Plotner, two free throws from Plasko and a free throw by Seidl created a 17-9 swell that reigned W&J victorious in the semifinal round of the conference tournament matchup with a final score of 87-79.
 
The Presidents now head to Pittsburgh, Pa. this Saturday (March 1) to face off with host No. 1 seed Chatham in the Presidents Athletic Conference Championship. The conference championship bout is set to get underway at 7:30 p.m.