WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 30) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team faced off with Grove City on Saturday in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. The Yellow Jackets avenged an earlier season loss at the hands of the Wolverines by scoring a 75-69 victory.
The first four minutes of Saturday's win belonged to Waynesburg (6-13, 6-6), which scored the first nine points of the contest. Sophomore
Jon Knab tallied five of those early markers on two field goals and a free throw.
After breaking up the shutout, Grove City (12-7, 7-5) slowly pulled itself out of the early hole and took its first lead (25-24) with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Wolverines maintained their momentum for the remainder of the period and went into the halftime break sporting a 33-28 advantage.
Things began to look a bit grim for the home team, as GCC swelled its lead to a game-high 13 points after 3:49 of play in the period. The Wolverines maintained multi-basket leads until there was 6:07 left to play in regulation time. That was also the point in the game at which the Orange and Black put together a game-deciding offensive surge.
Waynesburg tallied eight-straight points from four different players, including a three-pointer from junior
Christian Koroly, to take a 62-60 lead with 4:46 showing on the game clock. The Jackets never trailed for the remainder of the afternoon, but the game wasn't decided until the final 31 seconds of action.
After a Wolverine three-pointer cut the visiting team's deficit down to just three points (72-69), Koroly and senior forward
Nate Labishak connected on three key free throws to double the home team's advantage. Grove City desperately tried to pull back to within a single field goal over the final nine seconds, but couldn't find the bottom of the basket.
Waynesburg's most recent win featured a balanced offensive attack that was paced by Knab and senior wing
D.J. Ritchie, who tallied a team-high 16 points each. Senior wing
B.J. Durham chipped in 13 points, nine of which came on three successful three-point tries. Koroly added 10 points on three-of-four shooting from the field.
The Jackets shot 48 percent from the floor in the win, including a respectable seven-of-18 from beyond the arc and 76 percent (22-of-29) at the free throw stripe. Waynesburg also held a 30-18 scoring advantage in the paint over its opposition.
The Orange and Black returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 3, with a road trip to Saint Vincent. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
