Waynesburg men’s basketball (9-5, 5-2 PAC) defeated Bethany College (1-10, 1-5) 78-56 on the road Thursday night. Sophomore Jansen Knotts scored 21 points and 10 rebounds, five coming on the offensive glass, recording his second double-double of the season. 

“Knotts was one of the keys, he has been really good in the past three games,” head coach Tim Fusina said. “He’s able to score inside, step through, and has range in the three.”

Knotts has averaged 19 points, eight rebounds, and 55% from three over the past three games.

“It’s all been my confidence,” Knotts said. “I know I’ve had the skill it’s just been my coaches and teammates giving that boost that I’ve needed.”

For such an impressive victory, the Yellow Jackets started out slow. Bethany led 7-2 in the first minutes. Waynesburg quickly responded with a 10-2 run. The action moved back and forth with lead changes and a 5-0 run by both teams. Fusina and his Yellow Jackets settled with the lead and preserved for the remainder of the game.

“Bethany made some shots,” Fusina said. “We didn’t do anything different, just stuck to our plan and what we had talked about leading up to Thursday night.”

The emphasis for Waynesburg coming into the game was to feed the ball inside and play physical defense. A final of 46 points in the paint to match their field goal percentage of the same and limiting turnovers to only three, the Yellow Jackets executed their plan to near perfection on offense. 

“Nijon Kirkman was efficient last night,” Fusina said. “We got what we wanted and if you have size like that and have guys with skill that can score inside it’s going to help us.”

Kirkman laid in 16 points going 8-12 and bringing down nine rebounds. 

Senior sensation Matt Popeck contributed 19 points and seven rebounds of his own to help the Yellow Jackets seal the victory.

After three games on the road, Waynesburg hosts Grove City on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. 

“Both teams are defense-oriented first,” Fusina said. “We need to continue to be physical and be able to handle their pressure while working for great shots, we proved we can do all that when we played them earlier in December.”