WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 9) – The Thiel College men's basketball team was dealt a 74-65 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) loss by Washington & Jefferson College Wednesday evening at the Henry Memorial Center in Washington. 

Senior forward Joe Herrmann (Hartstown/Jamestown) (Hartstown/Jamestown) paced the Tomcats with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists.  Freshman guard Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) (Philadelphia/George Junior Republic) added 13 while junior guard Brandon Mirizio (West Middlesex/Kennedy Catholic) (West Middlesex/Kennedy Catholic) chipped in with 10.  The Tomcats (5-6, 1-3) shot 40.4 percent (19-47) from the floor and finished with a 30-29 edge in rebounding. 

Josip Lucic-Jozak led the Presidents (5-7, 2-1) with a game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds.  Albert Varacallo finished with 14 points and five rebounds and Wahab Owolabi added 10 points and six boards.  W&J shot 44.0 percent (22-50) from the field.

Thiel managed to jump out to a 19-9 lead with just over 12 minutes to go in the first period.  The Presidents outscored the Tomcats 18-6 over the next 6:36 and went up 27-25 on a Varacallo three-pointer with 5:33 to play in the first.  W&J went into the half with a 38-34 lead.

A jumper by Brian Felker at the 12:29 mark of the second stretched the Presidents lead to 12, 53-41.  Adams' layup with 4:00 to play cut the W&J lead down to four, 64-60, but the Presidents went on to hit 6-of-10 from the free throw line down the stretch in posting the nine-point win.

Thiel will return to the floor on Saturday, Jan. 12 when it travels to Saint Vincent College.  Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.