WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 8) -- The Thiel College men's basketball team dropped a road Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup to Washington and Jefferson College 77-59 Wednesday evening at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.

The Tomcats drop to 5-8 overall and 4-5 in PAC play while the Presidents rise to 10-4 on the year and 6-3 in league play. 

Thiel started the game hot and led 11-7 at the under-16 media timeout thanks to going 3-for-3 from deep in the first 4:41 of the game. Mike Brown (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) connected on two of the 3-balls while Gabriel Gonzalez (Merida, Venezuela/Southwest Miami) canned the other. W&J responded with a 15-2 spurt over the next 4:30 to lead 22-13 with 10:09 left in the opening half.

Brown finished with a team-best 13 points on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line to go with two boards and one steal. Brown has averaged 12.2 points across Thiel's last five games and has reached double figures in four of those contests. In that same stretch, Brown has shot 46.4 percent (13 of 28) from 3-point range.

Gonzalez pitched in 11 points on 5-of-7, had a game-best three steals, tied for the game high with two blocks and corralled six boards.

The Tomcats cut the deficit back down to 5 on a pair of Khamari Accursio-Harris (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) baskets on back-to-back possessions, but the Presidents outscored Thiel 17-12 in the final 9:08 of the first half to lead 39-29 at the break.

Accursio-Harris logged 10 points on 5-of-16, pulled down six boards and dished out a team-leading two assists.

Marlon Ellerbee (Temple Hills, Md./Oxon Hill) (4 points) and Rob Thomas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) (2) notched 6 of Thiel's first 8 points in the second half as the Tomcats trimmed the deficit to single digits, but the home side took control of the contest the rest of the way with their full-court press in route to the victory.

Ellerbee posted 12 points on 5-of-15 to go with five boards and a pair of steals. Thomas, fresh off his fourth PAC Newcomer of the Week award win, pitched in 9 points and pulled down a game-high-tying seven rebounds.

The Blue and Gold won the battle on the glass (42-35) and grabbed a season-high-tying 17 offensive rebounds to W&J's three. The visitors outpaced the home side 16-2 in second-chance points.

Men's basketball returns to action next Wednesday for an 8 p.m. road PAC showdown with Allegheny College. The Tomcats topped the Gators 67-62 in their first meeting this season