Box Score

LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 19) – For the second time in six days, the Waynesburg University men's basketball team took Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) regular season champion Saint Vincent to the brink of defeat. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, the Bearcats held off a late rally and pulled away for a 72-62 victory Tuesday night in the PAC quarterfinals.
 
With the loss, the eight-seeded Jackets finish the 2012-13 season at 10-17. Meanwhile, the top-seeded Bearcats advanced to the PAC semifinals, where they will face fifth-seeded Washington and Jefferson on Thursday night.
 
It appeared as though Saint Vincent would cruise to victory early on, gaining leads of 8-1 and 15-5 before the Jackets climbed back in the game with a 9-0 run to cut the Saint Vincent advantage to 15-14. The run was sparked by two baskets by sophomore Byrum Louco that were sandwiched around a three-pointer by sophomore Thomas Ellis.
 
Waynesburg was forced to chip away at a lead once again after Saint Vincent responded with a 5-0 run to go ahead 19-14. The Jackets answered with a 6-0 surge of their own to take their first lead at 20-19 when sophomore Jason Propst made a layup with 8:18 to play in the first half. Saint Vincent then fired back to take a 28-22 lead with 5:48 to play in the first half. Ellis cut the Bearcats' lead to 30-29 with 2:05 showing on the first-half clock, before Saint Vincent settled for a 34-31 halftime lead.
 
Waynesburg trailed by at least three until another offensive surge gave the Jackets their first lead of the second half at 39-38. Ellis tipped in the go-ahead basket at the 13:16 mark of period number two. The top-seeded Cats responded with a 7-0 run after the Jackets took the lead and went up 45-39 at the 11:58 mark. The Bearcats pushed the lead to eight points (51-43) with just under 10 minutes to play.
 
The visitors cut its deficit to three (57-54) on a free throw by junior E.J. Coleman with 4:49 showing on the lock, but that was as close as the Jackets got to pulling off the upset. Saint Vincent scored the next five points to stretch the lead to 62-54 with 2:06 remaining in the game. From there, Waynesburg and Saint Vincent traded scores down the stretch before the Jackets fell to the top-seeded team in the tournament for a third-straight season.
 
Propst led Waynesburg with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds, just narrowly missing out on a double-double performance for the second-straight night. The Brighton, Colo. native also dished out a team-high three assists, while making seven-of-eight free throws. Fleegle joined his sophomore teammate in double figures with 12 points.
 
Waynesburg shot 38.1 percent (24-for-63) from the field and a respectable 70.6 percent (12-for-17) from the foul line. Saint Vincent was more efficient than its opposition from the floor, draining 25-of-50 attempts (50 percent) from the field. The Bearcats posted similar numbers as Waynesburg's from the charity stripe, knocking down 18-of-25 (72 percent) attempts from the line.
 
A much smaller Waynesburg team did a fantastic job on the glass, outrebounding Saint Vincent by a 41-29 advantage.  
 
Even though its season ended in defeat, Waynesburg's men's program saw vast improvement in 2012-13. The team doubled its win total from a season ago, earned 10 victories for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign and finished with a winning record at home (7-6).