WASHINGTON, Pa. – The sixth-seeded Thiel Tomcats men's basketball team defeated the third-seeded Washington and Jefferson Presidents, 69-64 in the quarterfinal round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament Tuesday evening.

In the first half, the Presidents led or were tied with the Tomcats from the 18:25 mark on. However, the Tomcats remained in striking distance, never trailing by more than eight, and went into halftime down 30-25.

In the second half, the Tomcats remained close and took the 36-35 lead with 14:29 to go on a Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) jumper. The teams exchanged the lead multiple times and were tied at 51 with 7:52 left to play. The Tomcats broke the tie with a two-pointer from Ahmad Tejumola (Waldorf, Md./Saint Charles), then followed up with a three-point play by Beni Lavodrama (Washington, D.C./Phelps ACE) and a layup from John Aarestrup (Miami, Fla./Archbishop Coleman Carroll) to take a 58-51 lead with 5:31 to play.

Down the stretch, the Presidents fought back to bring the game to 61-60 with just 1:11 left to play. Out of a timeout, Kyiam Exum (Temple Hills, Md./Central) hit a clutch jumper to extend Thiel's lead to 63-60 with just 33 seconds remaining. The Presidents hit a free throw to put the game at 63-61 with 25 seconds on the clock. The Presidents started fouling and the Tomcats hit their free throws, with Ellerbee and Aarestrup combining for a perfect 6-6 on free throws in the final 25 seconds to give the Tomcats the victory.

Thiel had nine different players make at least two field goals in the win. Kyiam Exum (Temple Hills, Md./Central) led the Tomcats in points with 12. John Aarestrup (Miami, Fla./Archbishop Coleman Carroll) and Ahmad Tejumola (Waldorf, Md./Saint Charles) also added 10 points apiece. Tejumola led the Tomcats with six rebounds and three assists. Aarestrup chipped in on defense with four steals and a block. Rayshod Hooper (Baltimore, Md./St. Frances Academy) tallied nine points with five rebounds and a game high five steals.

The Presidents were led by 18 points from Jake Livingston. Cameron Seemann totaled 14 points. AJ Blue and Nicholas Campalong notched 11 rebounds apiece.

The Tomcats will advance to the quarterfinals to take on the top-seeded Westminster Titans on the road Thursday. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.