For Waynesburg University head men’s basketball coach Mark Christner, last season saw his team develop an unfortunate identity.

In 2016-17, Waynesburg went 9-16, and of those 16 losses, six which were by fewer than 10 points, six were by one possession and two were decided in overtime. For Christner, losing several close games is something that his team does not want to be known for.

“I think there’s going to be a narrative of ‘this group kind of always does this.’ We try not to buy into any of that,” said Christner. “I know that we were 1-8 in games decided in the last 30 seconds. As the head coach, obviously you take responsibility for that as well and try to continue to search for ways to put guys into situations in practice where we can simulate the pressure and be able to go through some game reps.”

Waynesburg enters this season with most of its roster coming back. The Yellow Jackets only graduated two players from last year’s squad – point guard Timmy Kaiser, and shooting guard Christian Koroly, who missed most of last season with a knee injury.

Christner said that having more experience will only be beneficial to his players if knowledge comes with it.

“I think experience is only as good as making sure that you’ve gotten better,” Christner said. “If you’re just experienced, and you’re not any better, it’s not going to help you. There just has to be a knowledge in the group that we’ve put in the work.”

The Yellow Jackets return the only two players from last season who finished with over 10 points per game. Guard Jon Knab, 16 ppg, and forward Marcus Wallace, 11 ppg, lead a group of four seniors for the Yellow Jackets this season. An essential thing for Knab this season, Christner said, will be having more offensive help around him in the backcourt.

“I think we have some more options offensively than we did last year,” Christner said. “You need somebody in the backcourt that can score…[Knab] had to do way too much by the end of the year, and he did a good job, but we were just so depleted in that backcourt. I think that just not having to do as much will hopefully allow Jon to grow.”

For Wallace, he feels the players coming back have all improved.

“Everybody came back, they’ve gotten better. [Junior guard Nate Gearhart] had a very good jumper last year, and this year it’s even better,” Wallace said. “Shane [Johnson’s] jumper is a lot better. Just everybody’s really gotten better.”

Wallace came to Waynesburg as a transfer student last season. This year, he feels more confident being more familiar with Waynesburg’s system.

“I know coming in last year, the defense was really hard for me to learn,” Wallace said. “Me and [Christner] talked a lot about late game situations. He said he wanted me to really get the defense down so he could have me in late games. This year coming in, I know exactly what he wants. It’s a lot easier rotation wise. I’m just more comfortable than I was last year.”

Although both Wallace and forward Mike Nugent, who was also a transfer student, are both seniors, Christer compares them to underclassmen as far as their time at Waynesburg goes.

“We always think that the biggest jump comes in between a guy’s freshman and sophomore year,” Christner said. “Kind of using similar logic for a transfer, we anticipate that Marcus and Mike will be able to help us. From classes to knowing how we travel, the timeframe of things, the lifting component and all that stuff, you just know they’ve gone through it.”

Other key returners for Waynesburg are senior guard Kendall Paige, sophomore guard Frank Bozicevic and sophomore guard Sam Heeter. Waynesburg also has five freshmen coming in. Of that class, guard Matt Popeck and forward Ben Vitovich are expected to see significant playing time, as is sophomore guard Virgil Walker, who transferred from NAIA Lourdes University.

For Wallace, the key to improving this season starts with effort.

“I’m just really looking for us to play hard. Obviously, I want us to win more games this season,” Christner said. “I really think that [the record will improve], I’m just looking for us to play as hard as we can and be that tough team in the PAC.”

To Christner, last season’s struggles will only translate into this year if the team looks to move past it.

“The stuff doesn’t carry over unless you allow it too,” Christner said. “I think just making sure that aspect of it is tight is important. I think approaching every day as an opportunity to get better for this group is really important, and not worrying about anything else.”

Waynesburg will open the season at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, in Walla Walla, Washington, against Whitman, who enters the season ranked #1 in the country. The Jackets will go to Spokane, Washington to take on Whitworth the next day. Waynesburg will then return home to take on Fredonia at Rudy Marissa Fieldhouse, before opening the Presidents’ Athletic Conference portion of its schedule Wednesday, Nov. 29, at home against Grove City.