Presidents point better than Grove City
The Washington & Jefferson College men’s basketball team erased a double-digit halftime deficit to escape with an 84-83 road win Saturday afternoon over the Grove City Wolverines at the College Arena in Mercer County.
The win improves the Presidents to 9-2 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play and 12-4 overall. The victory gives W&J a one-game lead in the PAC standings over Geneva, Westminster, Allegheny and Chatham, who all sit at 8-3 in conference play. Both Westminster and Geneva lost on Saturday.
The Presidents, who trailed for the vast majority of the game, erased a 12-point second half deficit to rally for the win. Grove City led by a 63-51 margin with 11:10 to play but W&J used its full court pressure to force 28 Wolverine turnovers. W&J closed the game with a 9-2 run over the final 2:52 to claim the narrow victory. A three-point play by Nick Gearhart sparked the run. Gearhart then tacked on a pair of free throws on W&J’s next possession to trim the deficit to 81-80.
A pair of free throws by Dirk Daniels gave the Presidents the lead for good at 82-81 with 2:24 to play. Matt Seidl converted a layup to make it a three-point lead with 1:21 remaining. That would be the last points for the Presidents, who held on for the one-point victory despite missing four free throws in the final 15 seconds.
Gearhart led the Presidents with 22 points, five rebounds and four steals. Seidl finished with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting performance from the field. Mitchell added 16 points and tallied five steals in the victory. Grove City was paced by Jonah Bock, who posted a game-high 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Cal 83, Gannon: Behind a career-high 25 points and seven three-pointers from redshirt junior Jermaine Hall, Jr., the California Vulcans won 83-66 at Gannon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West action on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, Cal improves to 7-8 overall with a 4-5 mark in league play. Meanwhile, Gannon remains winless this season and drops to 0-13 behind a 0-9 record in conference competition.
Hall shot 9-of-16 from the field, including 7-for-10 from beyond the arc, while grabbing eight rebounds and two assists. The Baltimore native is averaging 17.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of .520. Hall entered play having made no more than two three-pointers in a game this season while shooting 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from beyond the arc.
Sophomore Keith Palek III registered 23 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field behind a trio of three-pointers. Palek also collected five rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Cam Polak notched 12 points in the win, while redshirt freshman Donald Whitehead, Jr. finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench.
Allegheny 89, Waynesburg 62: The Waynesburg University men’s basketball team hosted Allegheny on Saturday afternoon for a Presidents’ Athletic Conference contest. The Yellow Jackets were overwhelmed by a long range barrage from the Gators that ultimately led to an 89-62 win for the visitors.
Allegheny (8-3, 10-6) connected on an outstanding 17-of-40 three point attempts. Waynesburg (2-9, 4-11) knocked down just four-of-22 from beyond the arc. The home team held a sizeable advantage from the foul line, where it converted 16-of-21 attempts, as compared to the Gators’ six makes in eight tries, but it wasn’t enough to counteract the visitors’ work from downtown.
Women’s results
Sophomore guard/forward Meghan Dryburgh posted a season-high 22 points and pulled down a career-high 26 rebounds to guide the Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team to a 59-48 victory over the host Grove City Wolverines Saturday at the College Arena in Mercer County.
The victory extends the Presidents’ winning streak to 14 games, its longest such winning streak in 20 years. W&J is 15-1 overall and 11-0 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play. The loss drops Grove City to 8-7 overall and 8-2 in league games.
Dryburgh posted her 10th double-double of the season and seventh in the past eight games. The three-time PAC Player of the Week made 9-of-14 shots from the field while draining both of her three-point attempts. The 26 rebounds match Heather Dawkins’ total vs. Bethany on Feb. 19, 1994 for the second most in a single game in program history. The program single-game record is 28 by Kim Eisminger. Dryburgh also finished with game highs in assists (5) and blocks (4).
Gannon 70, Cal 63: In a rematch of last year’s league championship, the California (PA) women’s basketball team suffered a 70-63 loss at Gannon on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West play.
With the loss, the Vulcans fall to 10-5 overall behind a 6-3 record in conference action. Cal has lost five of the last six meetings against Gannon after previously winning 10-consecutive meetings. Meanwhile, Gannon extends its winning streak to nine games and improves to 15-2 this season while seizing sole possession of first place in the divisional standings with a 7-2 mark.
Senior Ciaira Loyd led the team with 20 points, all coming in the second half, on 9-of-17 shooting and added four assists in the contest. She posted her fourth 20-point game of the season and ranks second on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game.
Junior Halle Herrington finished with 17 points (13 first half) on 6-of-12 from the floor and four rebounds. Senior Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) registered 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.
Allegheny 50, Waynesburg 41: The Waynesburg University women’s basketball team hosted Allegheny for a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game on Saturday at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. Though the Yellow Jackets fell short by the final score of 50-41, Waynesburg had the Gators on the ropes before a late run ultimately decided the day’s final outcome.
Allegheny (7-4, 7-8) opened the game on an 11-2 run, but the Jackets (2-9, 2-14) bounced back with an 8-2 surge of their own. Junior Avery Robinson, freshman Alli Bailey and junior Marley Wolf all scored to pull the home team to within three points of tying the score.
Anika Dansby and Avery Robinson tied for the team scoring lead with 11 points each. Dansby also swiped a game-high three steals.