For a Waynesburg University men’s basketball team that finished third in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 3-point shooting, a rare low-percentage shooting game turned out to be the difference in the team’s playoff loss to Bethany this past Tuesday.

For a team that shot 34.5 percent from beyond the arc for the season, it was suddenly shooting just 20.7 percent for the game against Bethany. Going 0-for-15 in the first half in attempted 3-pointers, it was a detrimental part of the Yellow Jackets game.

“It was just unfortunate, I thought for the majority of them [we had] good looks for the right guys,” said head coach Mark Christner. “I think the 0-of-15 in the first half was really rare [for us]… obviously if we would have been 5-of-15 we could have won… I think we did a lot of those things we wanted to do.”

The Yellow Jackets bounced back in the second half with a 6-for-14 showing from 3-point range, including a pair each from junior Nate Gearhart and senior Jon Knab. Freshman Matt Popeck, who averaged 32 percent for the season from 3-point range and was coming off a game in which he knocked in 8-of-13 shots from beyond the arc, finished 0-5 against the Bison despite scoring 12 points. Knab also finished below his season average of hitting 42 percent of his 3-point attempts, knocking down 33 percent, 2-of-6, in the Bethany game.

The Bison, likewise, finished the season in eighth-place in the PAC in 3-point shooting at a 31.8 percent clip, but managed to just edge out their average against Waynesburg with a 33 percent 3-point night.

Bethany also had timely 3-point shooting despite only having 15 attempts in the game compared to Waynesburg’s 29, including a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half by Bison senior guard Calique Jones that extended the team’s lead to 12 at halftime.

“I think the turning point could have been the shot that Jones made at the end of the half,” said Christner. “It was a deep three, we probably weren’t close enough but he made it and it was from 40 [feet] and put them up 12.”

When comparing Waynesburg’s 93-77 loss to Bethany earlier this season, Jan. 20, to the playoff loss, the 3-point results were similar in that the Yellow Jackets shot considerably below their season average at 28 percent and the Bison shot just under 46 percent in the game. Popeck and Knab struggled in that game as well, finishing just 3-of-12 beyond the arc collectively. Sophomore guard Sam Heeter was the lone Waynesburg player to find success in 3-point shooting, connecting on 4-of-7 attempts in the game.

Despite strong 3-point shooting for a majority of the season, the Yellow Jackets were unable to build off one of their strongest assets in an attempt to pull off an upset of second-seeded Bethany. The team’s season has come to an end and will send off one of its greatest shooters in recent history in Knab as it looks to build off its successes from beyond the arc for next season.