Box Score

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Tomcat men's basketball squad survived a late Washington & Jefferson College surge and registered a 68-64 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory over the Presidents Wednesday evening.

Blair Rozenblad (Youngstown, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) paced Thiel (12-4, 9-0) with a 20-point, 13-rebound effort. Despite recording his seventh double-double, it was just the third time Rozeblad eclipsed the 20-point plateau this season.

Chace McKinney (Boardman, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) totaled 14 points and four rebounds while Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) added 11 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Anthony Harvey (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) was the fourth Tomcat to tally double figures, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. Thiel finished shooting 44.8 percent (26-58) from the floor and managed a 41-26 advantage on the glass. Their plus-15 rebounding margin Wednesday was the 13th time this season the Tomcats have outrebounded an opponent.

Zach Bellhy led the Presidents (6-11, 2-6) with 20 points and six rebounds. Andy Carter added 15 points, three rebounds, and three assists while Mitch Locher chipped in with eight points. W&J shot 43.3 percent (26-60) from the field.

Harvey's three-point play with 14:21 to go in the first extended the Thiel lead to 10, 17-7, but a Brett Rubin-Goldstein three capped a 9-1 burst by the Presidents to trim the Tomcat lead to two, 18-16, with 12:10 remaining in the half. Thiel outscored W&J 16-9 over the final 5:38 of the first to go into intermission with a 39-31 advantage.

An AJ Forbes layup at the 10:38 mark gave the visiting Tomcats a 56-42 advantage, but Carter's layup with 5:07 to play capped a 16-5 Presidents run and pulled W&J back to within three, 61-58.

Harvey's three-pointer at the 3:42 mark pushed Thiel's lead back to eight, 66-58, but W&J outscored the Tomcats 6-0 over the ensuing 2:47 to pull to within two, 66-64, following a Locher three with 55 seconds to play.

After a Reznik miss with 10 seconds remaining, Rozenblad converted on a pair of free throws with five seconds to play to close out the scoring.

The Tomcats return to action on Saturday, January 28 when they host PAC rival Westminster College. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. The Tomcats will also be hosting their annual Alumni Day at Beeghly Gymnasium on Saturday.