Men’s basketball bests Grove City for first win of the season

After losing its first three games of the season, the Waynesburg men’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season Nov. 29 at home against Presidents’ Athletic Conference rival Grove City. Both teams struggled to score early and often, but the Yellow Jackets were able to come out on top in the low-scoring affair 53-49.

“I thought that it was how it was going to be,” said head coach Mark Christner. “It was just a tough, hard-nosed defensive game.”

The victory marked the first time since the 2008-09 season the Yellow Jackets (1-3, 1-0) have won their PAC opener. It also snapped a 10-game losing streak that stretched back to the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

The game started out slowly the Yellow Jackets and Wolverines (3-2, 0-2). In the first five minutes of the game, Grove City had only six points and Waynesburg only had four points.

“We just needed to relax, I thought that [at the start] we were going a little too quick, and teams that switch a lot [like Grove City] make you do that,” said Christner. “Once we were able to get into some space we were able to make some really good baskets and some really good plays.”

Mid-way through the first half, Grove City was ahead 16-9. Then, the Yellow Jackets found a spark and went on a 9-0 run in about two minutes to take the lead 18-16. The first half was physical with a lot of fouls by both teams, as Waynesburg finished the first half with 12 team fouls and Grove City had 11 team fouls.

“It is a frustrating game to play, just the way they play and when we are not making shots, we just didn’t let it carry over from one end to the other,” said Christner.

At the end of the first half the score was tied 30-30. The Yellow Jackets went deep into their bench to keep players rested the entire game; as a total of 11 players saw action for Waynesburg.

“We have guys who have earned some minutes and it was such a physical game that we wanted guys fresh down the stretch,” said Christner.

Even though many players from the bench got to play for the Yellow Jackets, they only had a combined total of 7 points. Fortunately for Waynesburg, the starters were able to score, especially senior wing Jon Knab and senior forward Marcus Wallace.

“We were able to make some shots, [Knab] in the midrange was really able to help us and [sophomore Shane Johnson] had a huge offensive rebound and [the team’s] effort was really good,” said Christner. “I think that [Wallace] had his best game of the year. I thought he was active and did a great job defensively.”

With exactly four minutes left in the game, the score was tied 49-49. It wasn’t until there was 31 seconds left in the game that Knab broke the tie and got the game winning shot for Waynesburg—giving him a total of 14 points. Senior wing Kendall Paige sealed the deal with two free throws in the final seconds, allowing Waynesburg to grab its first win of the season 53-49.

Freshman Matt Popeck finished the game with 14 points of his own, while Wallace chipped in nine points and four rebounds.

“I am just happy for our guys. We just worked hard and we want to try and [win],” said Christner. “We are picked to finish ninth in the conference, so there shouldn’t be a lot of pressure, but I think that when we put ourselves in a position to win games, we want to be able to win the game. So, hopefully this game is a good step moving forward.”

Waynesburg’s next game will be Dec. 2 at Saint Vincent in a PAC affair. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.