WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 16) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team found itself locked in a battle with Bethany in the final seconds of Wednesday night's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) battle at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. Unfortunately, a late miss at the foul line played a major role in the Bison's 73-72 win over the Yellow Jackets.
 
Trailing by four points with 35 seconds remaining in the contest, Waynesburg (4-12, 3-5) sophomore guard Matt Popeck (Washington, Pa. / Washington) dropped in a layup to cut the deficit in half. The home team was forced to foul and give Bethany (2-15, 1-7) a chance to ice the game at the free throw line. After the Bison missed the mark on both tries, the visitors fouled junior Jacket guard Frank Bozicevic (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway) and sent him to the line with a chance to tie the score.
 
After knocking down the first attempt, Bozicevic missed the mark on his second try with eight seconds left in the contest. After Waynesburg was forced to foul once again, Bethany again left the final outcome in doubt after missing two more tries from the stripe.
 
After senior wing Nate Gearhart (Huntingdon, Pa. / Huntingdon) grabbed the defensive rebound, the Jackets managed to call a timeout with enough time for one last shot at victory. Unfortunately, Popeck's three-point attempt didn't find the bottom of the hoop and the Bison left town with the win.
 
Bethany led by as many as 13 points (37-24) in the first half, but back-to-back layups from junior guard Sam Heeter (New Bethlehem, Pa. / Redbank Valley) and junior wing Brennan Smith (New Cumberland, W.Va. / Oak Glen) made the score 39-33 in favor of the Bison at the break.
 
The second half got off to a great start for the home team, which got baskets from Bozicevic, Popeck and Smith, the last of which was a three-pointer, to take its first lead of the contest at 40-39. The Bison regained the advantage (41-40) with a field goal of their own, which set off a back-and-forth final 20 minutes of play that saw 10 lead changes and three ties.
 
The Jackets led by as many as four points in the half, while Bethany held a half-high seven-point advantage with 6:35 showing on the scoreboard.
 
Smith led the charge for the home team by posting a double-double on a game-high 21 points and a contest-best 13 rebounds. He shot eight-of-14 from the floor and knocked down two-of-three from long range.
 
Popeck chipped in 19 points in the loss, while Bozicevic and senior wing Jake Dougherty (New Bethlehem, Pa. / Redbank Valley) helped out with nine and eight, respectively. Dougherty also handed out a game-high five assists.
 
Waynesburg will look to rebound from the bitter defeat on Saturday when it heads to Grove City for a PAC showdown with the Wolverines. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m.