W&J men, women sweep Waynesburg
The Washington & Jefferson men’s basketball team bounced back from a loss earlier in the week to down the visiting Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets in an 88-71 win Saturday afternoon in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
The win improves W&J to 7-2 in PAC play and 10-4 overall. Waynesburg drops to 4-9 overall and 2-7 in league contests.
W&J got off to a hot start in this matchup an maintained their momentum for a majority of the game. A team-effort offensively let the Presidents take clean shots all around the court including three-point opportunities. The Presidents got off to an early 11-3 lead minutes into the first half as J.R. Mazza and Micheal Bigley converted scoring opportunities.
W&J also enjoyed the benefits of a deeper rotation as they saw production from their younger players. Brandon Jakiela and Matt Seidl continued their strong freshmen campaigns, as both players turned in production off of the W&J bench.
The Yellow Jackets made the second half interesting closing the gap to as few as six points early in the second half. Isaiah Langston converted a three-point play to give W&J a 67-55 lead with 8:37 to go. The Presidents maintained a comfortable lead down the stretch before pulling away for good.
Seidl and Mazza led in the points category with 16 apiece. Bigley joined them in double figures scoring with 12. Langston and Bigley both matched the team high with seven rebounds.
Cal beaten by The Rock: The California University Vulcans were unable to overcome a late first-half rally on Saturday afternoon, as they suffered a 96-71 defeat at Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West action.
With the loss, the Vullcans dropped to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in conference play. Meanwhile, The Rock extends its home game winning streak to 12 games and advances to 11-2 this season behind a 5-2 mark in league action.
Redshirt junior Jermaine Hall, Jr. led the team with 20 points after going 9-of-14 from the field for his fourth 20-point performance of the year. Hall also paced the team with six rebounds while playing 31 minutes on Saturday. Hall ranks among the top 10 in the PSAC this season in scoring at 17.2 points per game after averaging 11.6 points per game through the previous two seasons of his career.
Freshman KJ McClurg registered 14 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, while redshirt freshman Donald Whitehead, Jr. posted 12 points and tied a game-high five assists. Sophomore Cam Polak added nine points and three rebounds in the losing effort.
Women’s Results
W&J stops Waynesburg: The Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team knocked down 11 three-pointers as they rolled to a 79-41 victory over visiting Waynesburg University in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
The win was the 12th straight for the Presidents, which is their longest winning streak for the program since the Presidents won 16 straight in 2002-03.
Meghan Dryburgh posted her eighth double-double effort of the season. Dryburgh recorded a season-high 19 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds in the winning effort. This was the fifth double-double in the past six games for Dryburgh.
Adalynn Cherry put together an efficient effort. Cherry finished with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Cherry drained four triples in five attempts. This marked the fifth time this season that Cherry made four threes in a single game.
Cal takes down The Rock: Led by four players scoring in double-digits, the Vulcans extended their winning streak to five games on Saturday afternoon with a 63-52 victory at Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West play.
With the win, the California (PA) women’s basketball team improves to 9-4 overall behind a 5-2 record in league action. The Vulcans have won the last five meetings against The Rock since Slippery Rock snapped a 35-game losing streak in the series on Feb. 2, 2019. Meanwhile, The Rock drops to 8-5 this season with a 3-4 mark in conference play.
Senior Ciaira Loyd scored a team-high 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting. She also collected five rebounds, eight assists and five steals in the victory. A 2022 All-PSAC West First-Team selection, Loyd is averaging 5.8 assists per game this season while also scoring 13.7 points per game.
Fellow senior Rajah Fink recorded her fourth double-double in the last five games, finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds (four offensive). Junior Halle Herrington also scored 15 points on Saturday behind a trio of three-pointers. Sophomore Allycia Harris posted 12 points, eight rebounds and two steals at Slippery Rock.