Small college basketball: Gearhart’s late 3 is winner for Presidents
Nick Gearhart’s three-pointer with three seconds remaining gave Washington & Jefferson’s men’s basketball team a thrilling 65-63 victory over Allegheny on Wednesday night at Salvitti Family Gymnasium in a game matching the leaders in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
The win allowed W&J to pull into a first-place tie with Allegheny in the conference standings. Both teams are 12-4 in the league. The Presidents are 15-6 overall while the Gators slipped to 14-7.
With 25 seconds remaining, Allegheny took a one-point lead, 63-62, on a three-pointer by Preston Turk.
After W&J had two ensuing shots blocked, the Presidents grabbed the rebound on the second miss and kicked the ball out to Gearhart at the top of the key for his game-winning shot.
The game was close throughout and was tied, 34-34, at halftime.
Freshman guard Matt Seidel of North Hills scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Presidents. Gearhart finished with 12 and Kyran Mitchell had 10 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and five assists.
Luke Barker led Allegheny with 20 points.
Westminster 65, Waynesburg 52: Westminster broke open a close game in the first six minutes of the second half and went on to a 65-52 victory at Waynesburg in a PAC game Wednesday night.
The score was tied 29-29 at halftime, but Westminster (10-5, 12-8) opened thye second half with a 15-4 spurt and Waynesburg (3-12, 5-14) never recovered). The Titans led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
John Tastinger scored a game-high 21 points for Waynesburg. Ryan Felberg had 11.
Westminster had a balanced attack with four players in double figures but none with more than 12 points.
Clarion 95, California 85: Despite California scoring 57 points in the second half, Clarion was able to pick up its first PSAC We4st win of the season, 95-85 over the visiting Vulcans on Wednesday.
Gerald Jarmon and Cam Kearney combined for 55 points and nine of Clarion’s 15 three-point field goals. Jarmon led the way with 29 points and Kearney followed with 26.
They helped Clarion (1-14, 3-17) race to a 49-28 halftiem lead. The Golden Eagles made 12 three-pointers in the first half.
Keith Palek led Cal (6-9, 9-12) with a team-high 26 points before fouling out.
K.J. McClurg had 19 points, Ca, Polak scored 16, and Jermaine Hall and Donald Whitehead each had 10.