STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Jan. 29) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team traveled to Franciscan on Saturday for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup. The Yellow Jackets suffered through some uncharacteristic troubles in terms of defense and ball control that led to an 84-74 loss to the Barons.
 
Waynesburg (11-7, 7-4) committed 15 turnovers in the setback after going six-straight contests in which it allowed just eight or less. The Jackets' stingy defense also struggled with Franciscan (5-10, 3-6), which tallied the most points against the Orange and Black since giving up 95 to Muskingum on Dec. 18, 2019.
 
Franciscan jumped out to a 9-0 lead and led 19-6 6:08 into the contest. The Jackets responded to the challenge with a 16-2 surge that cut their deficit down to one point (22-21) with just under 10 minutes left in the half. Waynesburg was able to complete the comeback and tie the score at 28-28 with just under seven minutes remaining before the halftime break.
 
Franciscan answered by tallying the next eight points to go ahead 36-28, before eventually going into the locker room with a 40-34 advantage.
 
The second half opened in a similar fashion to the first, as the home team jumped back ahead by 12 (48-36) after 2:14 of play. Once again, Waynesburg pushed back against the Barons, as a three pointer by senior guard Matt Popeck (Washington, Pa. / Washington) made the score 59-56 Franciscan with just over 11 minutes showing on the clock.
 
Unfortunately, the Orange and Black was unable to pull any closer to finishing the comeback, as the home team celebrated an upset win.
 
Popeck and graduate student forward Nijon Kirkman (Cleveland, Ohio / John Hay) both posted 23-point double-doubles on the day. Popeck pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, while Kirkman grabbed 11 boards of his own.
 
Sophomore guard Jake Scheidt (Saxonburg, Pa. / Knoch) dished out a game-high six assists over 26 minutes off the bench.
 
The Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 2, when they travel to Thiel. Tipoff against the Tomcats is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.