Box Score
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 19) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team wrapped up the 2013-14 season in the best way possible on Wednesday night when Saint Vincent College came to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. The Yellow Jackets ended their schedule with a fifth-straight victory that came with a 68-62 final score.
The Jackets (14-11, 9-7) locked up fourth place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings, which assured them a first-round home playoff game in the PAC tournament for the first time since the 2005-06 season. That was the same season that Waynesburg last boasted both an overall winning record and a final PAC mark of over .500. Wednesday's night's triumph ended a nine-game losing streak to the Bearcats (19-5, 12-3), which fell out of first place in the conference standings.
The home team jumped out to a 6-2 advantage after field goals from senior guard
E.J. Coleman, junior guard
Byrum Louco and junior forward
Jacob Fleegle. Saint Vincent fired back with six-straight points to take an 8-6 lead with 13:24 showing on the first-half clock. The Jackets briefly regained the edge, before the Bearcats not only jumped back ahead, but eventually built up a 28-21 advantage with 2:25 remaining in the period.
Momentum swung back towards the Jackets over the final moments of the half and allowed them to tie the game on a 7-0 surge that made the score 28-28 when the two teams went to their respective locker rooms. Both squads got off to a slow start offensively in the period, as Saint Vincent connected on just 38.7 percent of its field goal tries and Waynesburg posted a 42 percent performance.
That back-and-forth style of play continued into the second half, and midway through that period, the score was knotted up at 47-47. However, it was at that point in the ballgame that Waynesburg took control of the contest and began its run to victory.
A three-pointer by junior guard
Kenny Klase followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by sophomore guard
B.J. Durham put the home team ahead 53-47 with 8:18 remaining in the ball game. After seeing their lead slip to four points, the Jackets responded with back-to-back baskets from junior forward
Jason Propst, the second of which was a thunderous breakaway dunk that set off an explosion on the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. After freshman guard
Christian Koroly connected on one-of-two free throw attempts, the home team boasted a game-high nine-point lead (58-49) with just under five minutes left to play.
The visiting team pulled to within four points of tying the game up on multiple occasions down the stretch run of the thrilling contest. But with the scoreboard showing a 63-59 Jacket edge, the Orange and Black closed out the victory by out-scoring Saint Vincent 5-3 over the final 1:27 of action.
As has become something of its trademark during its season-ending winning streak, Waynesburg traded big individual scoring numbers for a balanced attack. Four different Jackets scored at least eight points in the win, including Durham, who poured in a team-high 15 points over 20 minutes of play. Fleegle added 14 points, while Propst chipped in 13 to the winning effort. Propst added a team-high three blocks on the evening.
Waynesburg committed just 12 turnovers in the win, while the Bearcats coughed the ball up 16 times. The Jackets also held a noticeable advantage at the free throw line, where they connected on 17-of-23 foul shots, as opposed to Saint Vincent's eight-of-13 efforts.
Waynesburg will host fifth-seeded Washington & Jefferson on Tuesday, Feb. 25, for the first round of the PAC tournament. A start time will be announced soon.
