GROVE CITY, Pa. (Feb. 8) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team traveled north to Grove City on Wednesday night to face the Wolverines in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup. The two teams battled for 40 tightly played minutes, but a late run by the Wolverines allowed them to grab a 60-53 win.
 
Junior Antone Baker (Maple Heights, Ohio / Maple Heights) opened a monster game with the first basket of the evening. He also scored Waynesburg's (5-16, 3-14) second basket. Unfortunately, Grove City (10-12, 8-9) tallied 14 points in between those two field goals and held a 14-4 advantage 6:32 into the contest.
 
Needing a win to keep any hope of a PAC playoff berth alive, Baker wound up scoring his team's first seven points to make the score 14-7. After Grove City fired back with a three pointer to make the score 17-7, graduate student Matt Popeck (Washington, Pa. / Washington) scored his first basket – a three pointer – since suffering an injury in the final minutes of regulation against Thiel on Jan. 18.
 
That trey ignited a 15-3 Jacket run that put the Orange and Black ahead 22-20 with under five minutes remaining in the half. Popeck tallied eight of his team's points during the surge, while Baker chipped in five and junior Bryson Wilt (Oakland, Md. / Southern Garrett) connected on a pair of free throws.
 
The final stretch of the half was a tightly-contested one that featured three lead changes and three ties. A pair of free throws by Baker with 28 seconds showing on the clock allowed Waynesburg to tie things up at 30-30 heading into halftime.
 
Grove City rebuilt a quick four-point lead over the first two minutes of the second half. However, the Jackets answered the host squad's challenge by scoring 11 of the next 13 points and building a five-point advantage at 41-36.  
 
Momentum swung back to Grove City's favor, as it scored 14 of the next 21 points to take a 50-49 edge with 4:11 left to play. The Jackets tied things back up on a Baker free throw, but the Wolverines practically lived at the foul line for the remainder of the game, where they converted eight-straight tries to close out the contest.
 
Baker did all he could to lead his team to victory by tallying game highs in points (29) and rebounds (13). He went 11-for-19 from the floor and converted seven of his 10 free throws. Seven of his boards were of the offensive variety, and he contributed defensively by posting two blocks and two steals.
 
Popeck chipped in 12 points in his return from injury.
 
Waynesburg is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 11, when it welcomes Washington & Jefferson to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.