Westminster men rally past Waynesburg, 75-70
WAYNESBURG — Despite starting the contest with a 14-2 run, the Waynesburg University men’s basketball team couldn’t make enough plays in the waning minutes of the second half and suffered a 75-70 loss to Westminster College Saturday afternoon at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.
The Yellow Jackets (6-15, 4-10) are now second to last in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and have lost 11 of their last 12 games.
“It was a pretty even game and I loved our team’s effort,” Waynesburg coach Mark Christner said. “We just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to steal this one. We had our runs, but we could never get over the hump in the second half to sustain those runs. Give Westminster a lot of credit, they hit some big shots late in the game.”
The Titans (14-7, 10-4) are currently third in the conference behind Saint Vincent and Thomas More.
Marcus Wallace led Waynesburg with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Jon Knab and Brennan Smith chipped in with 17 and 11 points, respectively.
Westminster had four players in double figures, led by Cameron Kane-Johnson’s 16 points off the bench. Deontay Scott (12), Brandon Domenick (11) and Jarret Vrabel (10) rounded out the top scorers for the visitors.
Waynesburg scored the opening six points of the contest and zipped out to a 14-2 lead after a bucket by Frank Boziecevic.
“We moved the ball well and got some shots to fall for us,” Christner said. “It’s always important to start a home game with a ton of energy. We fed off the crowd and our guys got confidence with their shooting. They had some height on us, but we were able to defend them early on and make it tough on their bigs.”
The Titans responded with a 13-7 run and kept the deficit to single digits the rest of the first half. Westminster finished off the opening half with eight of the final 14 points, as Waynesburg clung to a 35-33 lead at halftime.
After a hoop by Smith started the scoring for the Yellow Jackets after halftime, the visitors answered back with seven straight points to take its first lead of the day, 40-37.
For the next 10 minutes the squads traded baskets and Westminster never led by more than five points.
With four minutes left in regulation, Waynesburg’s Nate Gearhart nailed a 3-pointer and Wallace converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the home team a 64-63 lead.
The Titans retook the lead after a basket by Domenick and hit two critical treys by Kane-Johnson and Austin Armwood to secure the road victory. Westminster ended the game with a 12-6 run.
Waynesburg will resume PAC play on Wednesday at Chatham with an 8 p.m. tip.
“Our guys are trying, we just need to learn how to finish games,” Christner said. “We have lost several close games this year. We have to show composure on the court. We have a lot of young guys for us, and this is just another test for us. I really like our guys.”