Box Score
GROVE CITY, Pa. (Dec. 11) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team had plenty to celebrate after its 63-57 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory at Grove City on Saturday.
It was the first conference win for first-year head coach Mark Christner and it halted a 22-game PAC losing streak for the Yellow Jackets, who are now 3-3 on the season and 1-1 overall. With victory number three secured, Waynesburg has already surpassed last year's two-win total and it ended an eight-game losing streak to the defending PAC champions, who are now 4-4 on the year at 1-2 in conference play.
The Yellow Jackets put together a solid 40-minute performance, especially after overcoming an early 4-0 deficit. The game stayed close through the majority of the first half. Waynesburg took control over the final six-plus minutes of the period. Trailing 19-16 with 6:42 showing on the clock, the Jackets embarked on a 9-0 run to take a 25-19 advantage with a little more than two minutes to go until the halftime break.
The Wolverines snapped their scoring drought with a bucket that made it 25-21, but Waynesburg put down the last four points of the half to take a 29-21 lead into the locker room.
The Jackets continued their strong play in the early minutes of the second period and built their advantage to 12 points (38-26) with 17:22 showing on the clock. Grove City bounced back over the next three minutes with a 10-0 run to whittle Waynesburg's lead down to just two (38-36).
With the two teams battling down the stretch, Grove City regained a two-point lead (55-53) with 2:40 left to play. However, Waynesburg maintained its composure and out-scored the host team 10-2 over the final two-plus minutes of play to seal the victory.
Though none of their five starters scored more than six points, the Jackets' bench more than made up for the lack of scoring with some big contributions. Junior forward Jeff Young and junior guard Luke Baker each tallied a team-high 14 points as reserves. For Baker, it was the most points he's put up as a Yellow Jacket. Young also led Waynesburg with six rebounds. Another non-starter, sophomore center Kurt Bonnet, chipped in 10 big points to the winning effort.
Waynesburg returns home for its next game, which comes against Marietta on Dec. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
