Box Score

GROVE CITY, Pa. (Jan. 3) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team dropped a heart-breaking 70-68 decision at Grove City on Friday afternoon in Presidents' Athletics Conference action.
 
Both teams built leads as large as six points in the first half as they battled back-and-forth over the first 20 minutes. Waynesburg (5-7, 0-3) started the game well by racing out to an early 13-6 lead over the first four and half minutes. The visitors built the early advantage behind three-point field goals from senior guard E.J. Coleman and junior forward Thomas Ellis. The host Wolverines (5-5, 2-1) countered by scoring nine of the next 11 points to tie the contest at 15=15 with 14:03 to play in the opening period.
 
Ellis pushed the Jackets back in front with a basket and a free throw for a three-point play to make it 18-15 at the 13:42 mark. However, Grove City regained the lead and held it for the remainder of the first half, before settling for a 40-38 halftime lead.
 
The home team pushed its lead to as many as eight points (53-45) with 10:29 to play in the contest, before the Jackets went on a late scoring run to get back into contention for a victory. The Yellow Jackets out-scored their opposition by a 12-to-four deficit over the next four-plus minutes and tie the game at 57-57 on a layup by Ellis.
 
Waynesburg used that momentum to take the lead when junior forwards Jacob Fleegle and Jason Propst connected on back-to-back baskets to push Waynesburg ahead 61-57 with 2:52 to play. The lead was the Jackets' first since early on in the first half. Unfortunately, Grove City answered right back after a timeout by hitting back-to-back three pointers to take a 63-61 advantage at the 1:40 mark. Coleman answered with a pair of free throws for Waynesburg to tie the contest at 63-to-63. Grove City used some hot shooting from beyond the arc to take a 66-63 lead.
 
Waynesburg countered with two free throws from Fleegle to cut the deficit to a single point (66-65) with 49 seconds to play. Unfortunately, Grove City got some timely free throw shooting to seal up the victory.
 
Four players reached double figures in scoring for the Jackets in the loss. Coleman had his best performance since returning from injury by leading the team in scoring with 16 points, including a nine-for-11 mark at the charity stripe. Junior Kenny Klase tallied 13 points, while Propst and Ellis scored 11 points each.
 
Waynesburg held a 43-to-34 rebounding edge in the contest and finished 23-for-29 at the free throw line. Grove City made 10 three-pointers and slightly outperformed the Jackets from the field, shooting 38.7 percent to the Jackets' 37.7 percent clip.
 
The Yellow Jackets will try to bounce back on Saturday when they host Geneva College at 8 p.m.