CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Feb. 10) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team traveled to Thomas More for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup with the Saints on Saturday. Senior wing Jon Knab reached a major milestone, but the Yellow Jackets came up short of victory in a 64-50 loss.
 
Knab came into the day needing three points to become the 34^th Waynesburg (9-14, 5-11) player to reach 1,000 for his playing career. The senior standout had to wait a while to reach the millennial mark. After collecting a field goal in the first half, his second basket of the day, which came with 10:53 left to play, gave him the milestone. Knab finished the day with eight points, moving his career mark to 1,005 points.
 
The game turned out to be a tale of two halves, as the Jackets got off to a fast start in their bid to upset Thomas More (19-4, 15-1). Three pointers by freshman guard Matt Popeck and sophomore guard Frank Bozicevic allowed the visiting team to take a 6-2 lead. Waynesburg's long-range attack allowed it to grow its advantage to 19-9 halfway through the opening half.
 
By the time halftime came around, the Jackets held a 27-20 lead, with 21 of them coming on seven made treys. Waynesburg made two other field goals and knocked down two free throws over the first 20 minutes of competition. The Jacket defense was also effective in the opening period, holding the host team to an eight-of-28 showing (28.6 percent) from the floor.
 
Six minutes into the second half, a three-pointer by junior wing Nate Gearhart reestablished a seven-point Waynesburg advantage (36-29) six minutes into the second half. That was the last basket scored by the visitors before a game-changing 19-2 run put together by Thomas More that allowed it to take a 48-38 advantage with 8:12 showing on the game clock.
 
Waynesburg was unable to recover from the surge, but was able to trim the lead down to seven points, before the Saints wrapped up the victory. Thomas More shot 57 percent from the field in the second half as it outscored the Jackets 44-23 in period number two.
 
Popeck scored seven of his team's first 10 points en route to an 11-point afternoon. Gearhart tallied nine of his 11 markers on a trio of successful three-point attempts.
 
"I thought we did some good things defensively, but offensively, we struggled to score consistently," said Waynesburg head coach Mark Christner. "It's terrific for Jon to earn a big accolade."
 
The Jackets play their final road regular season game on Wednesday, Feb. 14, when they travel to Washington & Jefferson. Tipoff with the Presidents is scheduled for 8 p.m.