By Ben Jacobs
Democrat and Chronicle

(Monday, February 4, 2002) -- Bad first halves have hurt Rochester all season, and Sunday was no different.

The Yellowjackets lost to Washington University (Mo.) 65-63 at the Palestra in a men's basketball game for first place in the University Athletic Association.

The loss dropped Rochester to 7-2 in the UAA and 16-4 overall. Washington is 9-0, 19-1 and ranked No. 3 in the nation by d3hoops.com.

"It makes it tough to win the UAA, but I don't think it's a stake in the heart," Rochester coach Mike Neer said. "We need to get over this and we need more than just 20 minutes of good basketball."

Jeff Joss banked in a 3-pointer from the right wing with 6.2 seconds left to tie the game at 63 for Rochester and send the Palestra crowd into a frenzy.

Washington point guard Matt Tabash then drove the length of the court and missed a short jumper, but Chris Jeffries grabbed the rebound and dropped in a layup as time expired.

"It's tough to lose at the buzzer," Neer said. "However, my disappointment is (that) we go through prolonged droughts in the first half of games."

Washington went on a 12-0 run five minutes into the game and 12 turnovers put Rochester behind by 13 at halftime.

"I told them, 'I know you will be back in the game and have a chance to win it,' " Neer said.

Rochester pulled to within four points midway through the half. The teams exchanged mini-streaks for the next 10 minutes, and Washington led by five with 55 seconds left.

Rochester hit three 3-pointers in the final minute, but it was not enough. Brian Jones scored 15 points for Rochester and Joss finished with 13. Jeffries scored 19 points for Washington.