With the Presidents’ Athletic Conference basketball season beginning to wrap up, the playoff bracket is slowly filling itself out.

St. Vincent continues to lead the conference, while Washington & Jefferson sits in fifth, and Waynesburg University jumped to sixth following its big win over W&J Wednesday, Feb. 6. The Jackets defeated the Presidents 85-67, before falling to the Saint Vincent Bearcats by a score of 88-60.

Waynesburg has a tough task this Saturday when it travels down south to Bethany, W.Va. to take on the last-place Bison.

Despite where it is in the standings, Bethany upset St. Vincent 68-63 last Wednesday, giving them hope Bison hope going into their last few conference games.

Bethany [4-19, 3-11] is led by junior guard Trey Shifflett. Shifflett averages 15.3 points per game for the Bison and leads the offense in assists. Last time the Bison met the Jackets at Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, Bethany, led by freshman guard Derek White Jr., defeated Waynesburg by a final score of 73-72. Junior Brennan Smith and sophomore Matt Popeck led the Jackets with 21 and 19 points, respectively, in the losing effort. Waynesburg struggled to take care of the basketball, turning it over 13 times, five more than the Bison.

“We came out flat and it affected the rest of the game,” senior wing Nate Gearhart said. “If we can come out with energy and focus then we can win this game.”

Despite the loss, The Jackets triumphed in some of the statistical categories, out rebounding the Bison 44-36, and making 11 three pointers to Bethany’s seven.

The Geneva Golden Tornadoes, who Waynesburg defeated two weeks ago, sit closely behind the Jackets with five conference wins. As of this publication, Waynesburg, with a win over Thiel and Bethany, can secure a playoff spot in the middle of the PAC, ultimately avoiding Saint Vincent, who handled Waynesburg 88-60 this past weekend. In addition to Shifflett’s prolific scoring, sophomore guard Logan Wolverton leads the Bison in three-point success, shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc.

As for Waynesburg, sophomore guard Matt Popeck leads both the team and the conference in scoring average at 16.9 points per game. Junior forward Brennan Smith follows Popeck with 14.1 points per game and leads the 3-point scoring shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc.

As a senior, Gearhart recognizes the importance of games late in the season.

“The anticipation of a playoff game is very special, it is do or die in the playoffs and the best team wins,” he said. “Every moment with my team is special to me, and I’m thankful for every single one of them.”