WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 4) – A raucous crowd gathered at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Wednesday night exploded in excitement when junior guard B.J. Durham split a pair of Saint Vincent defenders and knocked down a jumper from the free throw line to put Waynesburg ahead of the top team in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) with four seconds left to play. That shot may have been the biggest of Durham's collegiate career as it sealed a thrilling 66-65 triumph for the Yellow Jackets.
 
The victory kept Waynesburg (12-9, 8-4) in a tie for third place in the conference standings. The Bearcats (14-6, 9-2) stayed in first place in the PAC, but saw their lead over the Jackets and Bethany shrink to a game-and-a-half. Bethany kept SVC in the top spot by downing Thomas More on Wednesday night.
 
Both offenses took a little time to find their respective rhythms on the evening. After six minutes of action, the two conference opponents were knotted up at 7-7. A 6-0 spurt from Waynesburg gave the home team its largest lead of the game to that point at 13-7 with 10:16 to play until halftime.
 
Saint Vincent was able to trim the deficit down to 18-17 with just over four minutes showing on the first-half clock. The Jackets were able to keep the opposition at bay and take a 28-24 lead into the locker room.
 
Waynesburg relinquished its advantage for the first time after a 5-0 run by the Bearcats turned a 30-26 deficit into a slim 31-30 edge in the early portion of the second half. SVC extended the surge to seven unanswered points and moved ahead 33-30, before senior wing Jacob Fleegle knocked down a jumper with 15:52 left to play.
 
The Jackets regained the lead (39-37) after senior center Tyler Miller dropped in a layup with 13:53 showing on the scoreboard. Waynesburg stayed ahead of or tied with the Bearcats for the next 13:43 seconds of game time. However, a pair of SVC free throws with 10 seconds remaining in the thrilling contest put the Cats back up ahead at 65-64 with just over four seconds showing on the clock.
 
Those foul shots set the stage for Durham's heroics, which started with Waynesburg navigating its way through the Saint Vincent press defense. After the eventual game-winning hoop was recorded, the visitors had one last shot at victory, but the ball handler slipped to the floor after advancing past the half court stripe and set off a joyous celebration for the Jacket faithful.
 
Durham's game-winning shot was just the finale to a fine night on the court. The junior poured in a Waynesburg-best 16 points in the victory and was one of four double-digit scorers for the Orange and Black. Fleegle and fellow senior Jason Propst racked up 12 points each, while yet another senior, wing Kenny Klase, contributed 10 points.
 
The Jacket's team-based offensive approach produced 16 assists, including a game-high four helpers from Fleegle. Saint Vincent, on the other hand, notched just five assists. Waynesburg was able to survive a 50-percent shooting effort from the Bearcats.
 
The Yellow Jackets will look to regain their focus after Wednesday's memorable victory, which was their second-straight at home against the two-time defending PAC champions, before Saturday, when Washington & Jefferson comes to the Marisa Fieldhouse. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the team will celebrate senior day before getting the game underway.