Feb 23, 2023 4 min read

Do you believe that lightning can strike twice in the same place?

If you’re a fan of the basketball teams at Washington & Jefferson or Chatham, then you know it can, and did this week in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournaments.

One night after the top-seeded Washington & Jefferson women’s team endured a unthinkable cold-shooting night and was upset by visiting Chatham, the W&J men suffered a similar result.

Chatham’s Simon Boyer and Blaine Gartley combined for 47 points and eight assists Thursday night as the Cougars stunned top-seeded W&J 87-61 in the men’s semifinals before a large crowd at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.

The home fans didn’t have much to cheer about because W&J (20-7) never led as Chatham played with confidence, energy and teamwork.

“We watched the women’s game (Wednesday) and I thought that win gave us some extra energy to come in here and get the job done,” said Chatham coach Dave Richards.

Chatham (16-11) advances to the championship game Saturday at Allegheny, which defeated Thiel 106-66 in the other semifinal.

W&J defeated Chatham twice during the regular season – by a combined seven points – but this time the Cougars had the winning combination. Chatham shot 49 percent, made 21 of 25 free throws, outrebounded the Presidents by 12 and committed only 11 turnovers.

“We ran really good offense, which didn’t allow then to set up their press,” Richards pointed out. “It also didn’t allow them to get out in transition. They didn’t have many transition points and they have three of the best players in the conference in transition. They can really go in transition.”

Scoring points was difficult for W&J. After the Presidents’ women’s team was 0-for-23 from three-point range in its semifinal defeat, the W&J men went 1-for-20 from behind the arc.

“We couldn’t get into a rhythm at both ends,” W&J coach Ethan Stewart-Smith said. “We couldn’t win the one-on-one battles consistently. We only had seven assists.”

Chatham forged a 17-3 lead eight minutes into the game and led 23-7 with nine minutes left in the half. At halftime, the Cougars were up 42-21.

“At halftime, it felt eerily similar to the women’s game,” Stewart-Smith admitted. “It was a similar flow to that game. We had a glaze. The shots weren’t falling and as the game went along we sorta crumbled.”

Kyran Mitchell, one of two seniors on the W&J roster, played an inspired second half and finished with a team-high 22 points. He helped the Presidents close to within 51-33 early in the second half. At that point, the W&J faithful had to be thinking that anything was possible, especially since the Presidents overcame a 24-point deficit to win at Geneva late in the regular season.

The 18 points, however, was as close as the Presidents would draw this time.

Boyer, who scored a game-high 26 points and went 12-for-12 at the free-throw line, scored six straight points that put Chatham up 61-37 and that seemed to take the drive out of the Presidents.

Gartley, the Cougars’ point guard, scored 21 points, had five assists, only one turnover and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Mitchell was the only player to score in double figures for W&J.

“We needed our best guys to be our best guys,” Stewart-Smith said. “Our top three guys average 40 points and we got about 20 from them tonight. When you get behind big early, the game plan goes out the window.”