WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 24) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team looked ready to roll to its third-straight win Wednesday evening when Chatham traveled to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) clash. However, a massive comeback from the Cougars erased a 20-plus-point lead for the Yellow Jackets and allowed the visitors to pull out a 66-64 victory.
 
Chatham (4-3, 4-3) got off to a strong start and led 13-12 after the first 6:38 of play. Waynesburg (2-4, 2-4) responded to the challenge with a 14-0 run that put the home team head 26-13 with nine minutes showing on the first-half clock. The Cougars cut the lead down to 30-20 with 4:12 left to play in the half, but another long offensive surge by the host team, this time an 11-0 spurt, put the Orange and Black comfortably ahead 41-20 with less than a minute remaining until halftime.
 
The Jackets looked like they would take a that 21-point advantage into the break, but a buzzer beater by Chatham from three quarters of the court length away as time expired may have served as a bad omen of what was to occur when the second half got underway.
 
Sophomore guard Briston Bennett (Mt. Morris, Pa. / Trinity Christian) put his team back up by 20 (45-25) 1:11 into the period with a pair of free throws. However, it was at that point that Chatham started getting its offensive rhythm going and cut its deficit down to just eight (48-40) with 13:45 left in regulation.
 
Chatham kept chipping away at the Jacket advantage and trailed 57-55 with 7:44 showing on the game clock. Waynesburg battled to keep the lead in its grasp, but with 3:52 left to play, the visitors tied the game back up at 61-61. A layup one minute later put the purple and gray ahead 63-61.
 
The Jackets battled down the final stretch of the evening, but were never able to regain the lead. Trailing 66-63, sophomore guard Ryan Felberg (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg) connected on a free throw with just four seconds remaining. A miss on the second attempt led to Chatham grabbing the defensive rebound, but then turning the ball over to give the Jackets one last shot at pulling out what seemed to be an almost guaranteed victory at halftime. Unfortunately, a three-point attempt at the buzzer didn't find the bottom of the net and a very disappointing night came to an improbable end.
 
"We defended at a high level and got great shots in the first half," said Waynesburg head coach Tim Fusina. "In the second half, we took a lot of bad shots early in the shot clock and had trouble keeping the ball in front of us. Chatham deserves a lot of credit for outplaying us in the second half."
 
One player who perfectly represented Waynesburg's night was junior forward Isaiah Alonzo (Chandler, Ariz. / Tri-City Christian). Alonzo was nearly unstoppable over the first 20 minutes as he poured in 20 points on eight-of-11 shooting, including a perfect three-for-three effort from beyond the three-point arc, before halftime. He finished with a game-high 23 points and struggled to rediscover his scoring touch in period number two. Alonzo also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists and swiped two steals.
 
Freshman Jansen Knotts (Ridgeley, W.Va. / Frankfort) logged his second double-double over the past three games with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior guard Matt Popeck (Washington, Pa. / Washington) came off the bench and contributed 17 points, six rebounds and a contest-best five assists over 32 minutes.
 
Waynesburg suffered the loss despite out-rebounding Chatham 49-38.
 
The Jackets will try to shake off the effects of Wednesday's downer of a defeat on Saturday, Feb. 27, when they travel to Washington & Jefferson to take on the Presidents. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.