After losing a close game against Washington & Jefferson Jan. 17, 80-77, the Waynesburg men’s basketball team had an opportunity to avenge the loss against the Presidents this past Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Despite leading at half 33-29, the Yellow Jackets (9-15, 5-12) were unable to hold on and dropped the season series to W&J (5-19, 4-13) with a 66-62 loss. According to senior wing Jon Knab, inconsistencies in the second half allowed the Presidents to take and maintain the lead.

“Overall I think we didn’t play well enough to win the game,” said Knab. “We had too many lapses on defense and gave up too many open layups and uncontested shots. We gave ourselves a shot to win at the end of the game but we didn’t execute well enough during stretches in the second half.”

Trailing 13-10 early in the game, the Jackets responded with a 12-2 run to build a seven-point lead early. Thanks to a 3-pointer from Matt Popeck about five minutes later, Waynesburg extended its lead to 31-20, which tied for the largest lead in the game.

Entering the second half with a four point advantage, W&J scored the first five points of the second half to set the tone for what ended up being a back-and-forth second half.

With Waynesburg trailing late in the game 64-62, junior wing Nate Gearhart had a 3-point attempt that came up short, but the Yellow Jackets had a second chance by grabbing the offensive rebound. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, the Presidents forced a turnover and clinched the victory with a layup just before the final buzzer.

Another key difference between the two halves, Knab said, was the overall rebounding.

“In the first half we rebounded the ball really well, and then in the second half the started the half rebounding the ball better than us,” he said. “We also couldn’t find a rhythm offensively in the second half like we could in the first half.”

Knab led all scorers with 23 points in the game and added six rebounds. The only other double-digit scorer for Waynesburg was Popeck, who notched 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Looking ahead for the Yellow Jackets, the final home game of the season will be against the Golden Tornadoes of Geneva Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3:30p.m. A win for the team will guarantee a playoff spot, as it currently sits in a tie for seventh place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. A loss, however, means that Waynesburg would need W&J to lose to Thomas More in order to maintain its playoff bid.

“We know Saturday is going to be our last home game, so we are looking forward to getting the bad taste of Wednesday out of our mouths and head into playoffs with some momentum,” Knab said.