PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team (13-5, 6-3) was unable to come through with a season sweep of the Chatham Cougars (13-4, 8-1) as the Presidents dropped an 84-72 contest.
 
Sophomore Michael Plasko (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) led the Presidents in scoring with 17 points on the night. Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) finished the night with 16 points and a near double-double with eight rebounds. Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb) and Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) wrapped the Presidents in double figures with 12 points each.
 
Both units got off to a balanced start at the beginning of the opening half, knotted at six over two minutes in. Burlenski made two three pointers to get the W&J offense going. Free throws from Plasko and a layup by Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) allowed the Presidents to reach a six-point lead, 14-8. Trading lead changes through the remainder of the first half, the Presidents grew another short-lived advantage with a 27-23 lead off a layup by Seidl from Nick Sukernek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair).
 
A triple made from Plasko at the 2:34 mark off the dish from Acosta gave the Presidents their largest lead of the conference contest, 37-28. The Cougars scored six consecutive points as W&J entered the halftime break with a 37-34 edge. The Red & Black held a slight edge in the rebounding battle through the first 20 minutes of play. The W&J bench also outscored Chatham's bench 21-11.
 
The Cougars swiftly gained the edge on the Presidents in the opening minutes of the second half and rarely looked back. Back-to-back layups from Seidl and Plasko brought W&J within two points with four minutes left, but to no avail as Chatham regrew their advantage quicky after as they ran off with the 84-72 final.
 
Despite seeing more production from its bench (23-11) and more scoring in the paint (36-34), W&J was outrebounded (45-34) and struggled in their transition offense. The cougars held large differentials in points off of turnovers (22-12), second chance points (16-5) and fast break points (17-7).
 
W&J looks to get back on track with a road trip up north on Saturday (Jan. 31) as they are set to square off with the Grove City Wolverines. Tipoff is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start.