The win marked the first road victory for Thiel (5-21) this season and moved the Tomcats, who snapped a four-game losing streak to W&J, into one of Thursday’s PAC Tournament semifinals at top-seeded Bethany.
The Tomcats ran out to a 15-9 lead in the first six minutes after Bianco drilled back-to-back three-pointers.
Freshman guard James Beedle (McDonald, Ohio/McDonald) upped the TC advantage to 23-17 after a triple at the 8:30 mark, but a 17-5 W&J stretch over the next four minutes put the Presidents on top, 34-28. Junior guard Brandon Studer (Johnstown, Pa./Conemaugh Valley) knocked down three treys during the spurt, including one which pushed him over 1,000 points for his career.
Bianco nailed another three-pointer 34 seconds before halftime to trim Thiel’s deficit to 40-38 after 20 minutes of play. The first half featured nine lead-changes and four ties.
Washington & Jefferson held three-point leads on three occasions in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Thiel would not go away and took a 54-52 lead on Bianco’s triple with 8:33 remaining.
Junior forward Kevin Bringman’s (Fairview Park, Ohio/Fairview Park) three-pointer at the 5:39 mark pushed the Presidents ahead, 61-59, but Bianco has the answer once again with a jumper a minute later for a 64-63 Tomcat lead.
Bianco’s lay-up with 3:16 left on the clock made it a 69-65 TC lead, but junior guard Jon Koch (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) buried a triple on the next possession to bring W&J to within 69-68.
Freshman center Josip Lucic-Jozak (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) canned a pair of free throws with 2:28 remaining for a 70-69 W&J lead; however, Bianco scored 15 seconds later for a 71-70 TC edge.
Koch’s running jumper at the 1:17 mark gave W&J the lead back (72-71) and neither team was able to score until Bianco’s free throws in the final seconds. W&J could not get a shot off in the final 4.6 seconds.
Bianco made 8-of-15 shots from the floor, including 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, in 29 minutes of action. Freshman guard Andre Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Absegami, N.J.) was the only other Tomcat in double figures with 10. Thiel shot 49 percent (26-of-53).
Lucic-Jozak paced the Presidents (10-16) with 26 points and 12 rebounds. He made 11-of-14 shots from the field. Koch added 17 points and five rebounds, while Studer netted 14 markers, including his 1,000th. W&J made 45 percent (28-of-62) of its attempts and held a 39-30 edge on the glass.