GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 9) -- Trailing 52-42 with 1:25 to play, the Thiel College men's basketball team was able to cut Washington & Jefferson College's lead down to three, 52-49, with 44 ticks remaining a last-second three-point attempt went awry and the Presidents left Beeghly Gymnasium with a 54-49 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory.
W&J's (9-12, 5-4) Wahab Owolabi registered 17 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Presidents to the win. Josip Lucic-Jozak added 15 points and 11 boards in 22 minutes off of the W&J bench. The Presidents shot 31.5 percent (17-34) from the floor, but knocked down 70.4 percent (19-27) of their free throw attempts. The Presidents also finished with a 40-36 advantage in the rebounding battle.
Freshman guard Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) (Philadelphia/George Junior Republic) tallied 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Tomcats (9-11, 4-6). Senior forward Joe Herrmann (Hartstown/Jamestown) (Hartstown/Jamestown) added 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals while freshman forward Tommy Hall (Youngstown, Ohio/Campbell) (Youngstown, Ohio/Campbell) chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. The Tomcats shot 40.8 percent (20-49) from the floor but were able to convert on only 6-of-15 (40.0%) of their free throw attempts.
Tied at 18-18 with just over five minutes remaining in the opening period the Tomcats concluded the first session on a 10-3 run and went into halftime with a 28-21 lead.
W&J opened the second half outscoring Thiel 17-9 and took a 38-37 lead on an Owolabi jumper with 8:25 to play. An Adams' jumper pulled the Tomcats back in front by one, 41-40, with 7:09 on the clock, but the Presidents responded with a 12-2 run to extend their second-half lead to 10, 52-42, with 1:25 to play. Adams' layup with 44 seconds to go pulled Thiel to within three, 52-49, but a late three attempt was blocked by Albert Varacallo, who corralled the rebound and registered a pair of free throws with less than a second on the clock.
Thiel returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 13 when it hosts Saint Vincent College. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.
