Washington & Jefferson gives Stewart-Smith first victory
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter
W&J men’s basketball head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith.
It took 19 games, but the Washington & Jefferson men’s team has given first-year head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith his initial victory.
Brian Lindquist had a double-double with game highs of 22 points and 18 rebounds, and Brian Graytok contributed 19 points, as W&J defeated host Chatham, 66-55, in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game Saturday night.
The win was the first for W&J (1-11, 1-18) and ended a 20-game losing streak that dated back to last season.
In its previous game, a double-overtime loss Wednesday to Thiel, W&J erased a 17-point halftime deficit. The Presidents carried that momentum into this game, building leads of 18-4 and 30-9. W&J led 34-14 at halftime and put together a 8-0 run early in the second half for a 42-17 advantage.
Chatham closed the gap by putting W&J on the free-throw line. The Presidents made only 18 of 35 free throws in the second half and were 25-for-49 for the game. Chatham, however, didn’t make enough shots to fuel a comeback as it shot only 26 percent from the field.
Chatham (4-8, 4-17), which is in its first season of men’s basketball, was led by Anthony Bomar’s 12 points.
Waynesburg 75, Grove City 69: Christian Koroly scored seven of his 10 points in the final five minutes as Waynesburg rallied down the stretch to defeat visiting Grove City, 75-69, in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.
Waynesburg (6-6, 6-13) trailed by as many as 11 points early in the second half before mounting a comeback over the final six minutes.
Grove City (7-5, 12-7) led 33-28 at halftime and 42-31 early in the second half. The Wolverines still led, 60-54, with six minutes remaining. That’s when Waynesburg went on an 8-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Koroly, a former Trinity High School standout, that gave the Yellow Jackets a 62-60 lead.
Koroly added three more points and B.J. Durham, who had 13 points, made a three-pointer that gave Waynesburg a 68-64 advantage. Grove City pulled to within 68-67, but Durham scored six consecutive points and Koroly converted two free throws to secure the win for the Yellow Jackets.
D.J. Ritchie and Jon Knab shared game scoring honors for Waynesburg with 16 points apiece. Joe Vermilya scored a game-high 18 points for Grove City.
Clarion 68, California 64: Rob Agurs made a tiebreaking layup with 41 seconds remaining and Clarion went on to defeat visiting California 68-64 in a PSAC West Division game.
Agurs, who made only two shots all night, made a layup that gave Clarion a 62-60 lead. Andre Anthony made two free throws with 11 seconds left to push the Golden Eagles’ lead to four points.
B.J. Andrews led Calrion with 13 points.
Richard Smith scored a game-high 15 points for Cal (4-12, 7-15) and grabbed nine rebounds. Logan Andjusic and Cordell Smith each scored 12 points, but the Vulcans were hurt by 16 turnovers.
Wash & Jeff 84, Chatham 60: After scoring 100 points in a game for only the second time in school history Wednesday night, Washington & Jefferson scored 45 second-half points Saturday and pulled away for an 84-60 road win over Chatham in a PAC game.
The Presidents (11-1, 16-3) won their sixth consecutive game and remained one game behind conference leader Thomas More.
W&J led 39-33 at halftime before breaking open the game in the second half by shooting 63 percent from the field.
Rachel Belly, a fort Cherry graduate, scored a career-high 22 points, making 10 of 11 shots. She also had six rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Presidents received 30 points from their bench players, including 16 from Daneille Parker, a Canon-McMillan graduate. Parker was 7 of 8 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. Beka Belly gave W&J three players in double figures by scoring 10 points.
Megan and Katelyn Sieg each scored 12 points for Chatham (4-8, 8-11).
California 77, Clarion 57: Shatara Parsons scored a career-high 30 points and California remained tied for first place in the PSAC’s West Division with a 77-57 thumping of host Clarion.
Parsons, a sophomore forward, made 12 of 14 shots and 6 of 8 free throws. She also had six rebounds to help California improve to 12-4 in the conference and 14-5 overall. Cal began the day in a three-way tie for first place with IUP and Gannon. IUP defeated Gannon, 53-47, Saturday to make it a two-way tie for the lead.
Cal’s Seairra Barrett had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Miki Glenn contributed 13 points.
The Vulcans led 46-40 in the third quarter before going on a pivotal 12-2 run during which Parsons scored seven points.
Jordan Bekeja and Delrika Jones-Carey each scored 11 points for Clarion (7-9, 7-15).
Grove City 70, Waynesburg 49: Lexie Arkwright scored 16 points and Grove City held host Waynesburg to 18 first-half points en route to a 70-49 victory over the Yellow Jackets in a PAC game.
The loss was the third in a row for Waynesburg (7-5, 9-10) and dropped the Yellow Jackets below .500 for the season. Grove City (6-6, 8-11) ended a three-game losing streak and won for the third consecutive time at Waynesburg.
Laura Bachman had 13 points and Kathryn Erbelding 12 for the Wolverines.
Addy Knetzer led Waynesburg with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds.