Box Score  
 
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 30) – With a crowd of around 200 people on its feet, Waynesburg junior guard E.J. Coleman took the basketball in his hands with just under four seconds left to play in Wednesday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown against rival Washington & Jefferson. The first-year junior was able to get the ball into the hands of sophomore forward Jason Propst, who let the deciding shot of the game fly as time expired.
 
Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, the home crowd at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse left without a celebratory rushing of the court as Propst's shot rolled off the top of the backboard, down to the rim and bounced to the floor as the Presidents escaped Waynesburg with a 70-69 win. The loss dropped the Jackets to 8-14 overall and 3-9 in PAC play, while the Presidents improved to 8-13 on the year and 6-6 in conference action.
 
The home team came flying out of the gates and shot 60 percent (15-of-25) from the floor during the first half, including a six-for-11 (55 percent) showing from three-point range. That hot shooting allowed the Jackets to build an early 8-2 lead that included a rare four-point play by sophomore guard Kenny Klase, who drilled the game's first three-pointer and tacked on a foul shot to turn a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 Waynesburg lead. A basket by freshman Nate Labishak pushed his team's lead to 8-2, before W&J halted the Jacket run.
 
A minute-and-a-half later, sophomore Thomas Ellis took an offensive rebound and laid it in to put Waynesburg ahead by eight points (13-5). Both teams played well offensively throughout the majority of the first half and with 1:50 to play in the opening period, the Yellow Jackets were clinging to a two-point lead at 36-34. However, a hoop by freshman Timmy Kaiser and a three-pointer from Ellis allowed the home team to take 41-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Orange and Black kept momentum on its side as the second period began thanks to two Propst free throws and three-pointer by sophomore point guard Casey Hope that made up Waynesburg's half of a 5-2 run. After Hope's make from long range, the Jackets took a game-high 10-point lead exactly one minute into the second half.
 
The home team maintained multi-basket leads over the next seven minutes of action until a brief 5-0 run by the Presidents pulled them to within three points (50-47) with 13:06 left to play. Two free throws from sophomore Jacob Fleegle put the home team back ahead by five points at 52-47, but from that point on, neither squad was able to take control of the contest.
 
A President three-pointer tied the game up at 56-56 with 5:36 showing on the game clock, but two more foul shots from Fleegle gave his team the lead back at 58-56. Ellis followed those two made shots up with a three-pointer to push the Jacket advantage back to five points. However, W&J was ready with an answer by going on a brief 5-0 run to knot the score back up at 63-63 with 2:54 left to play.
 
Finally, Waynesburg's tenuous grip on the lead slipped away thanks to five-straight points from the Presidents that gave them a 68-65 lead with 1:19 remaining in the thrilling contest. However, the Jackets showed they had one more run in them, as Hope and Coleman combined to make four-straight free throws and make the score 69-68 Waynesburg.
 
Unfortunately, right after he helped give his team the lead back, Coleman was called for a foul that allowed W&J's Zach Bellhy to connect on the game-deciding free throws with eight seconds left to play. The Jackets were able to cross the half-court line before calling a timeout to set up the final shot of the evening that didn't go Waynesburg's way.
 
Both teams featured a quartet of double-digit scorers on the evening. Fleegle led the charge for Waynesburg with a team-high 17 points, including a perfect eight-for-eight outing at the free throw line. He also tied for the squad lead in rebounds with six boards. Klase chipped in 14 points, while Ellis and Propst went for 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Though it came in a losing effort, the Jackets put on a clinic at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes of competition by hitting on all 12 free throw attempts. Waynesburg shot 46 percent from the field for the game and made eight-of-17 three-pointers (47 percent). Not surprisingly, the two teams' statistical numbers were very similar after the final whistle had blown.
 
The Jackets will look to erase the disappointment of Wednesday night's loss when they celebrate senior day on Saturday, Feb. 2, with a game against Geneva. A win over the Golden Tornadoes would avenge a 68-62 defeat Waynesburg suffered back on Saturday, Dec. 8. Tip-off for the final home game of the 2012-13 season is set for 3:30 p.m.