Waynesburg University’s men’s basketball team started off strong in the first half in its home opener against Fredonia on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Fredonia never gave up and eventually came up on top, 89-81, handing the Yellow Jackets their third loss in a row.

According to head coach Mark Christner, things started to fall apart defensively in the second half of the game.

“Winning a game in college is difficult, we did some really good things offensively, 81 points should be enough to win,” said Christner. “In the final 12 minutes, we weren’t very good defensively and Fredonia never gave up and took advantage of [Waynesburg’s defensive struggles].”

Waynesburg started out strong in the first 20 minutes of the game against Fredonia. The Yellow Jackets shot 18-40 from the floor and 9-18 from behind the arc. Junior Nate Gearhart led the Yellow Jackets in the first half with 12 points, but couldn’t score in the second half. Waynesburg’s struggles started in the second half, said Christner, when the shots stopped falling for the team.

“We made a lot of three pointers early on and our defensive intensity looked good too,” said Christner. “We couldn’t keep it up in the end and we let their guys run all over us.”

The Yellow Jacket bench scored 20 points in the first half and only four points in the second half. The Jackets also struggled in the second half with getting points in the paint.

With 13 minutes left in the game, Waynesburg led Fredonia by 15 points, but that’s when Fredonia got hot. Fredonia went on a 13-2 run making the score 67-63 with the Jackets barely holding on to the lead. Fredonia continued its pace and won the game 89-81.

“Jon Knab and Kendall Paige stood out offensively in the game which is what we need,” said Christner. “But to win, it takes a group effort and our guys need to get our playmakers the ball to win.”

Knab finished the game with 22 points and Paige finished with nine points. Another player for Waynesburg that had another great performance was freshman Matt Popeck. Popeck scored 18 points for the Yellow Jackets. Waynesburg was out rebounded in the game 41-27 which, according to Christner, was a key factor in the loss.

Waynesburg’s next game will be at home against Grove City to start conference play.

“[Grove City] is certainly a quality opponent,” said Christner. “It will be a close game, as usual, and we need to hang in there mentally if we want to win. It’s a home game for us and a PAC game too. So, it should be fun.”

Grove City currently is 3-1 and Waynesburg is currently 0-3.