Men’s Basketball downs W&J 86-72

Steve Janik, Assistant Sports Information Director

WASHINGTON, Pa. - Jan. 11 - The Bethany men's Basketball team defeated Washington and Jefferson 86-72 in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup on Wednesday.

With the win, Bethany improves to 9-5 (4-3, PAC) and W&J falls to 0-14 (0-7, PAC). The Bison travel to Grove City on Saturday for a game scheduled to begin around 3:00p.m.

Six Bison scored in double figures, led by Javonte' Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) followed with 16 points, while Jerron Athey (Richmond, Va./Banner Christian) tallied 13 and Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) and Chaice Truex (Wheeling, W.Va./St. John Central (Ohio)) each addd 12. Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) also added 10 points and three assists for the Bison.

After a W&J jumper at the 6:23 mark of the second half, the Bison held a 64-63 lead before starting to pull away. Trujillo and Williams would score the next eight points to put them up nine at 72-63. Bethany finished the game at the foul line where, as a team, they shot 80 percent (29-36) for the game.

In the opening minutes of the game, W&J jumped out to a 16-7 lead. A Jones jumper ignited a 12-0 run for the Bison, giving them a 19-16 advantage with about 10 minutes remaining in the half. From there, the teams stayed neck-and neck into the locker room.

With 4:03 left in the first half, Andrew Williams hit a big three to break a 30-30 tie. Down to a 1:13 to play, Rudolph finished a layup to give the visitors a 37-34 before W&J brought the deficit to one at the halftime score of 37-36.

Three minutes into the second half, Williams hit a layup to put the Bison up 44-38. After the hosts took the lead at 49-48, Bethany got a layup and-one from Athey to regain the 51-49 lead with 12:49 left to play. The Presidents would stick close with Bethany, but the Bison never surrendered the lead after the nine minute mark.