Box Score
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 20) – On multiple occasions this past season, the Waynesburg men's basketball team built up halftime leads, only to see them evaporate into a loss. During Monday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tournament play-in game on the road at Westminster, however, the ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets flipped the script on the eighth-seeded Titans. After falling behind 24-23 at halftime, the Jackets shot a red-hot 62.5 percent from the floor to take Westminster down 63-57 and move on into the quarterfinals of the PAC tournament.
The home team got things started by taking an early 9-5 lead, before Waynesburg exploded for a 15-0 run that put the Jackets ahead 20-9 with 9:17 left to play before halftime. Unfortunately, that momentum didn't last as Westminster responded by out-scoring its opponent 15-3 over final stretch of the opening period to earn its one-point halftime lead.
The Titans kept its momentum going into the early minutes of the second half by scoring the first five minutes of the period to build up a six-point advantage at 29-23 after 1:07 of action. Momentum swung back into Waynesburg's side of the court and it manifested itself as a 12-3 advantage that put the Jackets into the lead at 35-32 with 13:49 left to play.
The Jackets never trailed from that moment on and built up leads as large as eight points on multiple occasions. However, with just 55 seconds showing on the clock, the game was still very much in doubt as the Titans trailed by just four points. Waynesburg junior center
Kurt Bonnet made sure there would be no late-game letdown for his team as the third-year big man knocked down a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to play to bring about the final score of 63-57.
Though Waynesburg's leading scorer, point guard
Ben Altmeyer, only scored 12 points, he was one of five Yellow Jackets to record at least nine points on the night as part of a balanced offensive attack. Junior
Aaron Cromwell, freshman
Jacob Fleegle, Bonnet and senior
Larry Alexander chipped in nine points a-piece on the evening, while freshman
Kenny Klase came off the bench to chip in seven points. Their combined efforts counteracted a 27-point showing from Westminster's Anthony Thomas.
Both teams did a good job of protecting the basketball, as the Jackets committed 12 turnovers, and Westminster coughed it up just nine times. Waynesburg held a slight edge in rebounding (35-to-32), and also knocked down two more three-pointers and three more field goals.
With the win, the Jackets qualify to take on the PAC regular season champions from Bethany tomorrow night in a quarterfinal matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
