Robinson notches 2,000th career point
WAYNESBURG – It was Senior Night at Waynesburg College’s Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, but make no mistake, the night belonged to Ray Robinson. The senior from Uniontown needed only one point to become Waynesburg College’s second 2,000-point scorer and it didn’t take long for the momentous occasion to occur.
Westminster won the tap, but Waynesburg forced a turnover and Robinson converted it with a lay-up 16 seconds into the game to go over 2,000.
Robinson scored 15 points before halftime to give him 2,014, then added 18 more in the second half to finish with 33 for the night and 1,032 for a career that has two more regular-season games and the Presidents Athletic Conference Tournament to run.
“I can’t believe, with all the hoopla and everything going on, that Ray managed to score 33 points,” coach Rudy Marisa said. “But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by Ray anymore.”
For his part, Robinson expressed a bit of relief that this major feat had been accomplished, then took some time to reflect on its magnitude.
“It is a relief that it’s finally over,” he said. “It’s one less thing left to think about. But it’s such a great accomplishment that I just have to thank my family and the Lord for allowing me to accomplish it.”
Oh, by the way, Waynesburg College beat Westminster, 75-67, Saturday night and took over sole possession of first place in the PAC, thanks to Thiel College’s 79-76 win over Grove City.
But neither Robinson nor Marisa wanted to place much importance on being in first place at this particular juncture.
“For us to have a chance, we have to win the rest of our games,” Robinson said.
“It doesn’t mean a whole lot because you are only as good as your last game,” Marisa said. “We have two tough road games ahead, one is at Grove City, where I’m sure they will be ready for us. Then, we go to Thiel and that’s who just beat Grove City.”
Marisa said he would rather concentrate on this game and the important roles his seniors played in pulling it off.
Waynesburg Central graduate Aaron Ankrom also played his last regular season home game Saturday night, along with fellow starters Beau Henderson, Mike Pamepinto and Jake Marcoux.
Ankrom followed Robinson in the scoring column with 16, while sophomore Ray Gillespie added 10. Marcoux led all rebounders with 16, while Ankrom added 11.
The game was close throughout, with neither team able to take control until the three-minute mark. Waynesburg was clinging to a 63-59 lead when Ankrom scored off an inbounds play to make it 65-59. Then, with 2:20 remaining, Ankrom scored on a tip-in to make it 67-59. That seemed to take a lot of the steam out of Westminster. From there, Waynesburg College built its only 10-point lead of the game, 69-59, and held on for the win.
“At that point, it was a case of somebody needing to step up and make a few plays and Aaron made them,” Marisa said. “He made a couple of important ones for us right there.”
Brian Fadden paced Westminster with 21 points, while Chris Hatch added 16 and Pat O’Connor 10.
Marisa was proud of Robinson’s accomplishment, but seemed more impressed with the type of person he is than how great a basketball player he is.
“2,000 points wouldn’t mean anything to me if I was working with a bad guy, but it means so much more because I was working with a genuinely good guy like Ray.
“He likes the game so much. He brings a spark to each and every practice and in each and every game.”
And now Robinson is even more etched into the Waynesburg College record book. He trails only Darrin Walls, who scored 2,442 points at Waynesburg.
Robinson still has a chance to replace Kevin Bealko as the school’s all-time points per game average leader. Bealko, a Laurel Highlands graduate, holds the record at 20.8 and Walls is second at 20.7. Robinson was at 20.1 before this season, but has increased his career scoring average to 20.92.
In the evening’s first game, Westminster placed three women in double figures in a 66-57 win over Waynesburg College. The Lady Titans improved to 8-15 overall and 3-5 in the PAC. Waynesburg fell to 12-11 and 3-5.
Erica Tallo paced Westminster with 19 points and nine rebounds. Jennifer Petures added 18 points, including 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Ashley Kenney scored 14 for the Lady Titans.
Waynesburg College’s only double-figure scorer was Kyana Bradley with 17. She also had a team-high nine rebounds.