SPOKANE, Wash. (Nov. 18) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team wrapped up a memorable season-opening weekend trip on Saturday night at Whitworth. The Yellow Jackets battled the second-straight traditional national power they faced and fell 83-58 to the Pirates.
 
Once again, the Waynesburg (0-2) offense was led by freshman Matt Popeck, who tallied a team-high 12 points. Senior wing Jon Knab added 11 points and seven rebounds on the night, while senior forward Marcus Wallace completed a trio of double-digit scorers with 10 points.
 
Senior forward Mike Nugent was busy on the glass over the entirety of his 14 minutes played and turned those efforts into a game-high eight rebounds. Nugent led the charge for the Jackets, who edged Whitworth (3-0) 48-46 on the class.
 
"We out-rebounded both teams we faced on this trip," said Waynesburg head coach Mark Christner. "We also shrunk our turnovers drastically tonight."
 
The Jackets coughed up the ball just 12 times to Whitworth.
 
Waynesburg trailed by 10 points at halftime (41-31) and pulled to within just eight points of the host team thanks to basket by Wallace. The Jackets still trailed by just 10 six minutes into the second half. Unfortunately, Whitworth was able to piece several multi-basket runs over the remainder of the contest to pull away for the victory.
 
Though the record shows that Waynesburg went 0-2 on its season-opening road trip out West, Christner saw plenty of things that he feels can be built upon as the Jackets return to their own time zone.
 
"I'm proud of our guys tonight. They really battled and showed some resolve against a high caliber team," Christner said. "Not many teams come out to play both Whitman and Whitworth on the same trip. We learned a lot about our group and we're excited to get back to Pennsylvania and play at home."
 
The Orange and Black will play that first game at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Nov. 22, against Fredonia State. Tipoff for the Thanksgiving eve game is set for 5 p.m.