NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (December 16) – The Waynesburg University men's basketball team scored the first 19 points and never trailed in a 72-60 win at Westminster on Monday afternoon.

The Jackets head into the Christmas break with a 3-3 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) and 4-6 overall. Westminster falls to 2-7, 0-5 PAC.

Waynesburg led 21-1 after nine minutes of play. The Titans would cut the margin to a single possession multiple times in the second half but never took in the lead as the Jackets secured the wire-to-wire victory.

PJ Suggs (Twinsburg, Ohio / Twinsburg) scored the first six points of the ballgame with Casey Keesee (Tipp City, Ohio / Bethel) accounting for the next seven off the Yellow Jacket bench. Suggs capped the spurt with back-to-back baskets, including a steal and slam dunk to put Waynesburg ahead 19-0 with 12:16 left in the first half.

The Waynesburg defense held Westminster without a field goal until the 10:38 mark in the first half. The Jackets held Westminster to 0-for-10 shooting from the field to open the game and logged five steals and a blocked shot in the opening run.

Grant Barnhart (St. Mary's, W.Va. / St. Mary's), Keesee and Jalen Goins (Morgantown, W.Va. / Morgantown) each made treys in the final eight minutes of the first half as Waynesburg carried a 35-19 lead into the halftime break.

The Titans cut the deficit to single digits (38-30) in the first two minutes of the second half. A 10-2 spurt by the hosts brought the margin to within one possession (45-43) with 12:21 left in regulation. 

Keesee and Aidan Blake (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) sank three-pointers and Rayshod Hooper (Baltimore, Md. / St. Frances) scored five-straight points in an 13-3 Waynesburg run to push ahead 60-48 with seven minutes to play. Westminster would not get within single digits the rest of the way as the Jackets secured the conference victory.

Keesee finished with a season-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Suggs had 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Hooper had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds. All 10 players who appeared for Waynesburg made their way into the scoring column.

The Jackets held a 51-34 edge on the glass and had a 36-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Defensively, Waynesburg held Westminster to an opposing season-low 35.0 percent from the field.

The Jackets return to action on Dec. 30 against Hiram.