Box Score

WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 18) – For the second-straight season, the Waynesburg University men's basketball team squared off with Westminster in the play-in game featuring the number-eight and number-nine teams in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tournament. Also for the second-straight season, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Titans to stay alive in the postseason, this time taking down their opponents 74-57 at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Monday night.
 
The Jackets (10-16) broke open a 33-29 halftime lead en route to the 17-point victory, by out-scoring Westminster (2-17) 41-28 over the final 20 minutes of play. The win was Waynesburg's second in three meetings with the Titans this season.
 
The home team got off to a quick start by jumping out to a 7-2 lead on baskets by junior guard E.J. Coleman, sophomore Kenny Klase and sophomore forward Jason Propst. After the two teams traded baskets to make the score 9-4 in Waynesburg's favor, the Titans put together a 7-0 run to take their first lead (11-9) with 15 minutes remaining in the opening half. Waynesburg grabbed a 14-11 lead two minutes later, which was another in a series of multiple lead changes and ties that dominated the first 20 minutes of action.
 
After the Jackets took its 33-29 lead into halftime, Westminster got the second period off to a good start by out-scoring the host team 9-4 over the first 3:38 of action during period number two to build a 38-37 edge. Westminster eventually built up a game-high four-point lead at 53-49 with 8:17 left in the contest. However, the final stretch of the game belonged to the Yellow Jackets, who put together one of their best offensive stretches of the season.
 
The Jackets worked the home crowd into a frenzy by out-scoring the Titans 25-4 over the final eight-plus minutes of action to seal up the win. Waynesburg got the outburst started with an 8-0 run that put the home team back in the lead at 57-53 with just over six minutes showing on the clock. After Westminster stopped the Yellow Jackets' first run with a two-pointer, the host team put together a 9-0 surge that advanced Waynesburg's lead to 66-55 with 3:05 remaining in regulation.
 
After Westminster's final basket of the season trimmed the Jackets' advantage to 66-57, the home team scored the final eight points of the victory, six of which came on free throws. Surprisingly, Waynesburg put together its big second half despite not hitting a three-pointer and allowing the Titans to connect on five-of-11 attempts from downtown. The host squad was able to cancel out some of its opposition's advantage from long range by connecting on 11-of-14 free throw tries, as opposed to Westminster's one-of-four showing from the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes of play.
 
Propst paced a group of five Yellow Jackets who reached double digits in scoring with a team-high 16 points. The Brighton, Colo. native completed the game's only double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds. Propst also swatted away four blocks and swiped away two steals.
 
Klase chipped in 13 points, while Coleman added 12 points to the victory. Senior LaVance Turnage, Jr. came off the bench to record perhaps maybe his best collegiate game, which included a career-high 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Sophomore forward Jacob Fleegle rounded out the high-scoring quintet with 10 points.
 
Waynesburg not only held a second-half advantage from the free throw line, but out-shot Westminster from the charity stripe over the course of the entire evening. The Yellow Jackets knocked down 17-of-20 attempts (85 percent) as compared to the Titans making just eight-of-16 tries at the line. The Jackets also did a better job of protecting the basketball, turning it over 12 times, while forcing their opponents into 19 turnovers.
 
Waynesburg has very little time to enjoy its victory as they'll hit the road tomorrow to square off with top-seeded Saint Vincent in Latrobe. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.