The identity of the 2017-18 Greenville College men’s basketball team is one that can be explained just by looking at its score lines thus far.

The Panthers score a lot of points, the second highest scoring average in the nation at 123.1- but give up a lot of points as well, having allowed over 100 in every one of its contests.

When Waynesburg University took on Greenville Friday, Dec. 28, in the Purple and Gold Tournament at the Weaner Center in Defiance, Ohio, the flow of the game was no different than any of Greenville’s nine previous contests, in which the Panthers scored no fewer than 98 points and allowed no fewer than 111. A layup by sophomore guard Frank Bozicivec with five seconds left broke a 125-125 tie and the Jackets picked up their fourth straight victory, 127-125.

Head coach Mark Christner described Greenville’s style of play as “very unique.” The Panthers use the “Grinnell System,” developed at NCAA Division III Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. According to Christner, there are four primary objectives of that system.

One objective is to shoot 60 three-pointers every game.

Greenville shot 59 against Waynesburg.

Another is to rebound one-third of their missed shots.

The Panthers rebounded 25 of their 66 misses, good for roughly 38 percent.

Another goal of Greenville’s style is to shoot 30 more field goals than their opponent

The Panthers shot 107 field goals to Waynesburg’s 78.

Defensively, the Panthers strive to turn their opponent over 30 times.

Waynesburg ended the night with 31 turnovers on offense.

Despite the fact that Greenville either reached or fell just short of accomplishing each of those four objectives, the Jackets pulled out a win. Waynesburg getting a victory despite its opponent executing a lot of what it planned to do was something that was a point of pride for Christner.

“[Greenville] hit a lot of their marks, and typically when they hit their marks, they win,” Christner said. “So I would say for our guys, the resolve that they showed of just really playing [was key]. We made one more play than they did. That was the game. It was to the extreme all the way through, and I’m just really proud of our guys. How they hung in, how they competed.”

Waynesburg controlled the first half, scoring 73 points – the most the Jackets have put up in a half since Christner took over a head coach in 2010, and led 73-57 at halftime. Waynesburg was 29-45 from the field in the first half, and was 5-11 from beyond-the-arc and 10-11 from the free throw line. Individually, four Jackets scored in double figures in the first half, with freshman guard Matt Popeck and senior forward Marcus Wallace leading the way with 12 points, and senior guard Jon Knab and sophomore forward Shane Johnson adding 11 each.

Despite having a sizeable halftime lead, because of how fast Greenville is capable of scoring, Christner didn’t feel comfortable.

“It’s a game where there are so many possessions that the score really doesn’t matter at any time until maybe the last two minutes of the game,” Christner said. “It felt like we were tied at halftime. I know that we were up [by 16 points], but we didn’t really feel that, just because of how [Greenville] play.”

To no surprise of Christner, the Panthers didn’t fade away in the second half. In just over seven minutes, Waynesburg’s lead shrunk to two points, and less than three minutes later, a three-pointer by freshman guard Marvin Bateman put the Panthers ahead, 98-96. The next seven minutes were back-and-forth, with the lead changing hands six times. A jumper by Bozicivec with 2:05 left made it 121-116 Waynesburg, but Greenville went on an 8-2 run that climaxed when a layup by junior guard Johari Dix put the Panthers ahead, 124-123, with 37 seconds left.

Just 13 seconds later, Greenville senior forward Ethan Leib fouled Knab, who promptly sunk both free-throws to put the Jackets back in front, 125-124.

On the ensuing possession, junior guard Johari Dix had a chance to give the lead back to the Panthers when Wallace fouled him and sent him to the line for two foul shots.

He made the first to tie the game at 125.

He missed the second.

Wallace grabbed the rebound, and the Jackets called timeout with eight seconds left.

When play resumed, Bozicivic scored the winning basket, and sealed the game with a steal on Greenville’s final possession, ending the highest scoring contest in the history of Waynesburg men’s basketball. The 127 points were also Waynesburg’s highest point total since the 1998-99 season.

Popeck ended the night with a game-high 26 points, while Johnson scored 23 in just 18 minutes as a substitute, shooting 9-12 from the field. Johnson eclipsed his previous career high, set earlier this year against Whitman in the season opener, by 16 points. Wallace ended the night with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Knab and Bozicevic added 16 and 12 respectively.

For Greenville, six players scored in double-figures. Bateman led the way with 23 points, while junior forward Sonti Grady had 17 and junior guard Daniel Saeli scored 15.

While Greenville’s identity is straightforward, Waynesburg’s is a little more complex. The Jackets have struggled offensively at times, failing to score 60 or more points in three of their four PAC games thus far, but have also shown the ability to score, with Friday’s win marking the third straight game in which the Jackets put up 80 or more points. For Christner, Waynesburg wants to identify as a team that can come through in the final minutes to close out games, such as the one Friday, and that can get contributions from several different players.

“I think we want to be a group that’s just a tough-minded group… that’s the identity that we’re trying to establish,” Christner said. “The last three games have been tight, we’ve won them in the last two minutes, kind of on both ends of the floor, and different guys have done really good things. That’s good. We want that growth, we don’t want to be reliant on one guy or two guys, we want to be reliant on the strength of our team, and we’re growing in that regard. And that’s a good thing.”

For Waynesburg, this four-game winning streak is the longest since the 2015-16 season. With the win, the Jackets are now .500 at 5-5, while Greenville is also 5-5. Waynesburg’s will look to take home the Purple and Gold tournament championship Saturday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. when it takes on Wright-State Lake, before returning to PAC play Wednesday, Jan. 3 at Chatham.

Despite the win-streak, Christner does not see his team growing complacent.

“It’s not a settling group so far,” Christner said. “They won’t want to settle. They want to continue to get better, and as a coach, that’s the best gift you could ever get.”