WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 4) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team got off to a hot start that had it thinking upset during Saturday's home Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tilt against Westminster. Unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets cooled off enough to let the Titans overcome the home team and score a 75-70 win.
 
Waynesburg (6-15, 4-10) roared out of the gate and built a 14-2 lead after 6:21 of play. Junior forward Marcus Wallace led the charge with six points in the game-opening surge. Though Westminster (14-7, 10-4) was able to cool the Yellow Jackets off, it was unable to overcome the host school over the entirety of the first half. Waynesburg went into halftime with a 35-33 edge.
 
Sophomore wing Brennan Smith opened the second half with a basket that extended the Jacket advantage to 37-33. However, the Titans responded by scoring the next seven points and taking their first lead of the afternoon at 40-37.
 
The two teams proceeded to pass the lead back and forth eight times over the remainder of the contest. With just 2:56 showing on the game clock, Wallace connected on a pair of free throws that gave the Orange and Black the lead back at 64-63.
 
Unfortunately, that wound up being the Jackets' last lead of the contest. Shortly after Wallace's foul shots, Westminster embarked on a 12-3 run that lasted for all but the last second of the contest. Waynesburg managed to reduce an eight-point loss, to a five-point setback when Smith connected on a buzzer-beating three pointer that brought about the final score
 
Though it came in a loss, Wallace racked a personal collegiate-best and game-high 21 points. He also led all players with a game-high nine rebounds, just missing out on a double-double. Knab contributed the second-highest scoring total (17 points), while Smith chipped in 11 to the Jacket cause.
 
Senior point guard Timmy Kaiser dished out a contest-best five assists.
 
Waynesburg is back in action on Wednesday, when it travels to Chatham. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.