Box Score
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 9) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team out-scored visiting Thiel 37-32 in the second half of Wednesday's matchup at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. Unfortunately, that solid late effort wasn't enough to erase a 40-27 halftime deficit and the Yellow Jackets fell 72-64 to the Tomcats.
With the loss, the Yellow Jackets dropped to 1-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) and 6-9 overall. Meanwhile, Thiel snapped a six-game losing streak to improve to 7-6 overall and 4-3 in the PAC.
Thiel wasted little time in building an early lead, racing out to a 14-4 start at the outset of the contest. The Tomcats' lead swelled to as much as 18 when they made a jumper to push the lead to 31-13 at the 6:44 mark in the first half. Waynesburg responded with back-to-back baskets when sophomore
Jacob Fleegle drained a three pointer and sophomore
Thomas Ellis hit a layup at the 5:56 mark. The teams exchanged nine points each over the remainder of the half, before the Cats took a 13-point lead into the halftime break.
The Jackets went on an 8-4 run to start the second half and closed to within single digits at 44-35 when sophomore
Kenny Klase made a layup. Thiel responded with a 7-0 run of its own to make it 51-35 with 14:03 to play. The visitors held Waynesburg at bay for the majority of the remaining minutes of the contest, stretching the lead to as many as 18 with 12 minutes to play.
Waynesburg showed tremendous resolve and made a serious run for the victory when sophomore
Jason Propst flushed a two-handed dunk at the 1:51 mark of the second half. That hoop shrunk Thiel's lead to 66-58, but the Jackets couldn't get any closer to tying the contest up.
The home team's offense was led by Propst, who finished in a tie for the game high in points with 17. Junior
E.J. Coleman totaled 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Fleegle and Ellis also finished in double figures with 11 points each. Sophomore point guard
Casey Hope threw in four assists without turning the ball over.
Waynesburg held a slight 35-31 advantage in rebounding on the evening, but the Tomcats were able to overcome that difference by out-performing their hosts from the field. Thiel connected on 48.2 percent of its tries from the floor, while the Jackets managed to connect on just 37.7 of its attempts.
The Jackets return to action, when they host Frostburg State on Saturday for a non-conference matchup. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
