Topping Chatham secures six wins in a row for the Jackets

The Yellow Jackets continue to stay hot this season picking up their 6th win in a row. This time the win was at Chatham with Waynesburg beating the Cougars 70-62.

“It was a typical game after a long break,” said head coach Mark Christner. “It was sloppy, but hard fought. We had to make more plays then them, which we did, and we stayed focused late in the game and got a big win on the road.”

Waynesburg senior Jon Knab and freshman Matt Popeck dominated offensively for the Yellow Jackets; Knab finished with 24 points and three assist and Popeck finished with 20 points and five assists.

“[Knab] was great, he is really assertive and his offensive game is tough to defend. He can score on all three levels, he was like an assassin last night,” said Christner.

“Matt continues to learn, he is a gamer each night and it’s tough to play the point guard role in college, but he is picking it up quickly. He is doing a great job finding teammates and getting assists. He had some frantic moments last night, but he will get better and continue to help this team the next three years.”

Waynesburg started off down four going into halftime, letting Chatham take easy layups and control of the game early on.

“At halftime, I told the guys that we needed to get back to our defensive principles,” said Christner. “We needed to stop giving Chatham easy layups and they took that and did it and I think it showed in Chatham’s shooting percentage in the second half.”

Chatham went on to shoot only 32 percent from the floor in the second half compared to shooting 52 percent from the floor in the first half. Waynesburg outscored Chatham 41-29 in the second half giving the Yellow Jackets a 70-68 victory and improving the teams record to 7-5 overall and 3-2 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

“It was a good win for us,” said Christner. “We just need to keep making shots and executing on the road.”

The Yellow Jackets are currently on a six game winning streak, the last time Waynesburg had a winning streak this large was the nine game winning streak at the end of the 2014-15 season.

“It’s been good, but we aren’t paying attention to the streak really, because the season is still early,” said Christner. “We just want to continue to get better every game, and continue to grow. The best is yet to come.”

Christner also added that there is one other thing that you can compare this year’s team with the 2014-15 team.

“The seniors are playing their best basketball just like the 2014-15 team,” said Christner. “However, this group right now is relaxed and young. We are playing a lot of sophomores and freshman unlike the team from the 2014-15 season.”

The Yellow Jackets will hope to continue their winning streak Saturday afternoon when they travel to Westminster to take on the Titans.

“Westminster has probably the best back court in the PAC,” said Christner. “We are ready to play them and we want the game to be meaningful for us.”