DEFIANCE, Ohio (Dec. 30) – One night after winning a shootout with Greenville on a last-second layup, the Waynesburg University men's basketball team found itself locked in another nail-biting battle, this time with the winner taking the championship at the Purple and Gold Tournament, which was hosted by Defiance. Once again, the Yellow Jackets managed to come up with the game-deciding basket in the waning seconds, this time knocking off Wright State-Lake 62-59.
 
Friday night saw sophomore guard Frank Bozicevic drop in a layup to down Greenville 127-125. Saturday saw roughly half the points, but the same high drama as the Yellow Jackets (6-5) and Lakers (6-10) were tied 59-59 with seven seconds showing on the game clock. Following a pair of Laker free throws, the Jackets burned a timeout to try and end the game in regulation time. After receiving the inbound pass, senior wing Jon Knab hoisted up a three-pointer from around 30 feet away that found the bottom of the net as the game's final buzzer sounded.
 
"This group continues to believe in the process of getting better. It's tough to play two different styles without a lot of reps, but our guys really seized the opportunity down the stretch of each game," said Waynesburg head men's basketball coach Mark Christner. "It's fun to win on a great shot by Jon, but that's also the result of solid rebounding and good defense."
 
The two teams battled to a 31-31 halftime tie, but an 11-4 start to the second half put the Jackets ahead 42-35 with 14:27 remaining in the contest. Roughly two minutes later, a Knab layup boosted the Waynesburg advantage to 46-37.
 
Wright State-Lake answered the Waynesburg challenge with an 11-0 surge that gave it a 48-46 edge with 7:26 showing on the scoreboard. A pair of free throws from senior forward Mike Nugent knotted the score at 48-48 and signaled the beginning of a stretch run that featured five ties and a pair of lead changes before Knab's last-second trey gave the Jackets their fifth-straight victory. Waynesburg's current winning streak is its longest since the 2014-15 campaign.
 
Freshman guard Matt Popeck tied for the game lead with 12 points and was one of five Jackets to score between eight and 12 on the night. The rookie standout added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals to his night.
 
Knab and Bozicevic contributed 11 points each to the winning effort. Not only did the senior standout come up with the game-winning trey, but he also dished out a game-high four assists. Junior wing Nate Gearhart went three-for-seven from the floor, all from three-point range, for nine points, while senior forward Marcus Wallace chipped in eight points.
 
Nugent and senior Kendall Paige tied for the game lead by each pulling down eight rebounds.
 
Popeck and Knab were named to the all-tournament team, with the elder of the two earning tournament MVP laurels.
 
With its final non-conference game behind them, the Yellow Jackets return to the court on Wednesday, January 3, with a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup at Chatham. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.