TIFFIN, Ohio – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team (0-3) falls 92-83 on the final day of the Ron Linhart Memorial Classic to the Albion Britons (3-0). This matchup was the first ever meeting on record between the two programs.
Senior
Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) led the Presidents with 20 points, six rebounds, four steals, and three blocks. Additionally, freshman
Julian Semplice (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) finished the contest with 18 points and two steals. Senior
Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va./Ravenswood) and junior
Torrien Perkins (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) each led the team with four assists. Carte also had 17 points and Perkins had 11 off the bench.
Both teams kept trading buckets as neither team could have larger than a five-point advantage to start the contest. The Presidents found a spark of offense as the team went on a 9-0 run in the closing five minutes of the opening half. Carte and junior
Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) each made a three during the stretch. Burlenski also had a fastbreak layup off his own steal to help W&J grow their advantage. Albion responded with a small run of their own in the final 90 seconds as W&J ultimately went to the locker room with a narrow three-point margin, up 47-44. W&J outscored the Britons 15-8 off turnovers and 9-6 on fast break opportunities.
Albion flipped the scoreline to open the second half, but like the first two quarters, neither team could grow a healthy advantage. The Britons found a brief 8-2 stretch to gain a 68-62 lead, but a layup by Perkins immediately brought that down to only four points. The bucket helped provide an offensive spark as three pointers by Semplice and Perkins knotted the contest up at 72.
The Presidents could not get themselves over the hump as Albion quickly got the lead back up to 10 with just under two minutes to play. This run ultimately became the difference as the Britons went on to take the 92-83 victory.
W&J returns to the court on Wednesday (Nov. 18) when they travel into the city for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans at the Highmark Center.
