WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 11) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team gave the top squad in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) all it could handle and looked poised to pull a major upset over Washington & Jefferson on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Presidents were able to rally late and steal a victory from the Yellow Jackets by the final score of 88-86.
 
The home team (5-17, 3-15 PAC) held an 86-82 lead with 1:14 left in the game thanks to a pair of free throws from senior Ryan Felberg (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg). The Presidents (17-6, 14-4 PAC) answered with a corner 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 1 with 1:05 left. Following a scoreless Waynesburg possession and a foul by the home side, W&J connected on a pair of free throws to retake the lead at 87-86.
 
A go-ahead three-point attempt by Waynesburg hit off the back iron on the following possession with 9 seconds left, forcing a Jacket foul to extend the game. The visitors made the first free throw but missed the second, giving the Yellow Jackets one final chance to pull the upset. Unfortunately, a desperation attempt at the buzzer came up short, giving W&J the victory
 
Freshman Corey Easton (Buchanan, Va. / James River) gave head coach Tim Fusina a season-best performance with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc in his 22 minutes on the court. All three of the rookie's 3-pointers came over a 3:42 span in the first half, helping the Jackets to transition from a 20-15 deficit with just over 10 minutes remaining in the opening 20 minutes, to a 35-26 lead with 6:18 left in the half.
  
Junior forward Antone Baker (Maple Heights, Ohio / Maple Heights) connected on a layup in the post with 50 seconds left in the opening half to give the Jackets a 50-42 lead. Waynesburg ultimately took a 50-44 edge into the break after shooting 58.8% (20-34) from the field and 45.5% (5-11) from three-point range.
 
The Jackets maintained the lead for 17:43 in the second half, before the visitors snatched away the win in the final stretch of the battle.
 
Baker finished the contest with game highs in points (25) and rebounds (16) on 11-of-21 shooting. His 16 boards also tied his career-best mark set against Thiel earlier this season. The junior standout added a game-high-tying four blocks to go with two steals and three assists.
 
Graduate student Matt Popeck (Washington, Pa. / Washington), who was playing in the penultimate home game of his illustrious Waynesburg career, had 19 points to go with three assists.
 
Felberg added 13 points for the Jackets on 3-of-6 shooting to go with a game-best three steals.
 
The Yellow Jackets return to the court on Wednesday for senior night in the regular season home finale against Franciscan. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.