WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 10) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team battled Thomas More, one of three teams tied for first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), on Wednesday night. After 20 minutes of play, the Yellow Jackets had forged a 33-33 tie with the Saints and were looking for the upset. Unfortunately, the second half belonged to Thomas More, which pulled away for an 80-67 win.
 
The home team (7-7, 3-4) came racing out of the gates and built a 9-0 lead thanks to five points from the current PAC Player of the Week, Jon Knab, and four from current PAC Rookie of the Week, Matt Popeck. Waynesburg stayed ahead of the Saints (10-4, 6-1) until midway through the first half, when the visiting team tied the score at 16-16 and then took a one-point advantage thanks to a pair of free throws.
 
The Orange and Black wasn't able to wrestle the lead back from Thomas More for the remainder of the period, but a three-pointer from junior Nate Gearhart combined with a tip-in by sophomore guard Frank Bozicevic erased a late five-point deficit. By the time the two squad broke for their respective locker rooms, the score was knotted up at 33-33.
 
A three-pointer by Knab to open period number two gave Waynesburg a 36-33 edge. Unfortunately, Thomas More answered with a 10-0 run that put the Jackets in a hole from which they were never able to recover.
 
There were two major reasons for the Saints' victory: offensive rebounding and points off turnovers. Thomas More not only out-boarded the Jackets by a 34-20 margin, but it also grabbed 15 offensive boards to Waynesburg's six. The visiting team also took advantage of Jacket mistakes by producing 24 points off turnovers, as compared to 11 for the host squad.
 
"We need to get to defending with concentration, but most importantly, we need to rebound the ball," said Waynesburg head men's basketball coach Mark Christner. "I believe in our guys and we'll get it fixed. Thomas More played with the edge that we need to play with, so I give credit to them."
 
Knab looked like the conference's reigning Player of the Week by piling up 23 points on an amazing eight-of-nine shooting. He knocked down all five of his three-point attempts and both of his foul shots. Bozicevic came off the bench to chip in 11 points on the night.
 
The Jackets did a lot of things that typically lead to a win. They shot a respectable 49 percent from the floor and drilled 11-of-22 three-point tries. Freshman forward Ben Vitovich certainly did his part defensively, adding four blocks to give him a conference-best 31 swats.
 
Waynesburg returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 13, when it travels to Geneva. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.