WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 14) – It was a tale of two halves for the Waynesburg University men's basketball team, which hosted Geneva on Saturday. After falling behind by 14 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets came roaring back to tie the game late, before the Golden Tornadoes were able to snatch away a 74-72 victory.
 
The visiting team (7-8, 4-4) went into the locker room with a 37-23 advantage, before Waynesburg (4-11, 2-6) began its comeback in the second 20 minutes of action. The Jackets trailed 46-31 with 16:13 left to play in the game, when junior Jon Knab knocked down a three-pointer to start an 18-2 run that not only erased the deficit, but put the home team ahead 49-48.
 
The Jackets did most of their damage from beyond the three-point arc, where they canned a quartet of treys. Freshman Sam Heeter drilled back-to-back bombs to cap the surge and put his team ahead 49-48 with just under 12 minutes showing on the game clock.
 
A pair of Geneva free throws gave the GT's the lead back and set the tone for the remainder of the contest, which featured three lead changes and four ties. The final deadlock came courtesy of a pair of Knab free throws with 24 seconds to go that made the score 72-72.
 
Unfortunately, Geneva was able to draw a foul with just four seconds on the clock. After the visitors knocked down both free throws, the Jackets turned the ball over two seconds later and committed one last foul. Though neither foul shot was successfully converted, Waynesburg was unable to get off a desperation heave to pull out the win.
 
Knab poured in a game and team season-high 24 points on eight-of-16 shooting from the floor. He also swiped away a game-high three steals. Junior forward Marcus Wallace added 16 points and seven rebounds.
 
Junior Kendall Paige pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Timmy Kaiser dished out a game-high five assists to go along with eight points and four rebounds.
 
Waynesburg put together an impressive showing from the foul line, where it knocked down 20-of-25 shots. Both teams did a solid job of protecting the basketball. The Jackets turned the ball over just nine times, while Geneva recorded only seven turnovers.
 
The Orange and Black hits the road on Wednesday, Jan. 18, for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown at Washington & Jefferson. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.