It’s been over two years since the Waynesburg University men’s basketball team beat Geneva. This Saturday, the Yellow Jackets will look to send seniors Jon Knab, Kendall Paige, Mike Nugent and Marcus Wallace out on a high note, at least for the regular season, in what will be their last game before playoffs.

Entering Wednesday, the Jackets were seventh in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference with a 5-11 record and an overall mark of 9-14, while Geneva was two games ahead of Waynesburg at 7-9 in conference and 11-12 overall. Waynesburg entered Wednesday’s contest with Washington & Jefferson two games ahead of Chatham for the eighth and final PAC playoff spot.

In the first meeting between Waynesburg and Geneva this season, Jan.13, the Jackets shot just 31 percent from the field and ultimately lost 72-57. It was the third game in what ended up being an eight-game skid.

Although head coach Mark Christner was pleased with the team’s defensive effort, he felt that the same didn’t hold true on the other side of the ball.

“I think [our offense] was a problem,” Christner said. “We did not shoot very well. I didn’t think we were assertive in that game offensively against their zone. We’ll have to do a better job on that front.”

Senior Jimmy Leichliter and sophomore Ethan Moose led Geneva with 23 and 13 points respectively, with Moose adding a game-high eight rebounds. Junior guard Eric McGee added 12 points and six boards.

Coming into Wednesday’s game at Westminster, Moose was fourth in the PAC in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game, while Leichliter was seventh with a 15.7 average.  Moose also led the conference in steals with 51, 11 ahead of Waynesburg sophomore guard Frank Bozicevic, who ranks third in the PAC. As a team, the Golden Tornadoes were fifth in the conference in scoring offense as of Wednesday, averaging 69.8 points per game, just behind the Yellow Jackets, who averaged 70.3. Geneva’s ability to put points on the board isn’t anything new, according to Christner.

“Since I’ve been here at least, they’ve always had some guys who could really [score],” he said. “Moose is a pretty complete player… he understands how to play, he doesn’t put himself in bad spots. The ball is in his hands a lot… Leichleter is kind of difficult to guard because he moves well, he’s long, and he has kind of the ultimate green light. So if he’s [hitting his shots] from the perimeter, it’s a problem. There’s no question.”

The last time the Jackets took on Geneva at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse was last year. Waynesburg fought back from a 14-point halftime deficit, and two free-throws from current senior wing Jon Knab with 24 seconds left tied the game at 74. But two free-throws from now graduated Chase Vaudrin with four seconds remaining gave the Golden Tornadoes a 76-74 lead, which they held on to. Moose led the way for Geneva with 19 points, 15 of which coming in the second half, while Knab scored a game-high 24 points for Waynesburg.

A key for Saturday, according to Christner, will be for the team to have the drive necessary to get a win for the four seniors on Senior Day.

“Probably the biggest initiative that I’m sure that we will talk about is making sure that we get the effort that we want [for our seniors,]” Christner said. “That doesn’t guarantee a result, but we have to make sure that our energy levels are high, and our concentration is high.”

For Christner, the last week of the regular season means an extra emphasis on focusing towards what’s at stake.

“I think this week, in particular, is a mindset focus week,” Christner said. You kind of have to attack the week. I think we know that we have an opportunity to potentially help our seeding and ensure [a No. 7 or No. 6 seed] possibly depending on Geneva’s result Wednesday and our result Wednesday. So I think we want to make sure that we’re playing our best.”