WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College men's basketball team (20-6,12-4) won its Presidents' Athletic Conference Quarterfinal matchup against Geneva (10-16,7-9), 85-59.
 
The win sends W&J to its fourth PAC Tournament Semifinal in the past five years. The victory also gave the Presidents its 20^th win, making it the sixth time in school history the team has reached the 20-win mark, as well as the fourth time in the past five seasons.
 
Alex Acosta (Acworth, Ga./North Cobb) led the Presidents with 16 points, with eight coming on his nine free throw attempts. Cameron Rowell (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) was right behind Acosta with 15 points. Matt Seidl (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and Quinton Burlenski (Bridgeport, Ohio/Central Catholic) rounded out the W&J scorers that reached double figures with 10 points each. Acosta, Burlenski, Rowell, Seidl, and Michael Plasko (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) all added two steals apiece as the Presidents trounced the Golden Tornadoes 23-8 in the turnover battle.
 
Geneva opened the contest with a 12-4 run until it was snapped by a short floater from Nathan Plotner (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) with 14:39 to go in the first half. The Presidents embarked on a 23-2 run from there, with Acosta giving W&J the lead at 15-14 with a perfect trip to the free throw line at the 11:59 mark. Beginning at the 12:16 mark, Geneva went over six-and-a-half minutes without a score. A layup from Seidl gave W&J a 27-14 advantage, its largest lead of the half. The Golden Tornadoes were able to end the run with 5:40 to go in the first.
 
Geneva was able to claw back late in the half with 6-0 run starting with 5:40 to go in the opening frame, but the Presidents ended it with an emphatic jam from Rowell. The Golden Tornadoes responded with a timeout trailing 29-20 with 2:25 remaining in the half. Geneva was able to drain two triples in the final two minutes of the half, but two buckets from Seidl helped the Presidents maintain a 33-26 halftime lead. W&J controlled the turnover battle (9-4) and led in points in the paint (20-12).
 
Matthew Carte (Ravenswood, W.Va./Ravenswood) did all the scoring for W&J to begin the second half, outscoring the Golden Tornadoes 6-4 by himself heading into a timeout at the 15:28 mark. A basket by Burlenski at 14:54 gave W&J its first double-digit lead of the half at 41-30. With the score 43-33 at the 13:56 mark, the Presidents went on a 10-2 run culminating in a converted three-point-play by Acosta to give W&J an 18-point lead at 53-35.
 
After a Geneva basket, the Presidents embarked on another scoring run with 11:05 remaining as the Jaymen outscored the Golden Tornadoes 13-2 over the next two-and-a-half minutes, giving W&J a 66-39 advantage. After the teams traded scores, an emphatic jam by Rowell extended the W&J lead to its largest of the night at 29 points, 74-45, with 6:37 remaining. Geneva responded by going on an 11-1 run that the Presidents ended with 4:04 remaining in regulation with a Nick Colucci (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) layup. The game slowed from there with the teams going over two minutes without a score. The Presidents outscored the Golden Tornadoes 8-3 in the final two minutes sealing the score at 85-59.
 
Men's Basketball will return to Salvitti Family Gymnasium to square off with Franciscan this Thursday (Feb. 26), in the PAC Tournament Semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.