Men’s basketball falls in shootout
The Waynesburg men’s basketball time traveled to play a nonconference road contest against Pitt-Greensburg Saturday in the team’s final game before its holiday break.
The Jackets topped their previous scoring high on the season by scoring 88 points in the game but gave up their second highest points against total on the season in a 97-88 loss.
With the loss, Waynesburg stands at 1-7 overall and 1-2 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play after getting its first win on the season Saturday, Dec. 12 at home against Westminster.
“When you go play on the road against a team that’s got a pretty good chance to win its league you have to be on point,” said head coach Mark Christner. “I didn’t think we were for probably ten minutes of the game. The game is a process. You have to be able to do certain things to be successful and we keep learning the hard way on some of those things.”
In the losing effort, senior wing DJ Ritchie continued his torrent scoring pace by netting 21 points on 8-17 shooting from the field, while adding five rebounds.
Fellow-senior guard BJ Durham had the next highest offensive output with 19 points and four assists. Sophomore wing Jon Knab chipped in 12 points, which was the third time the Beaver Falls native scored in double figures this season.
“There were points early in the season where Jon struggled to stay on the floor because he was in foul trouble,” said Christner. “But he’s progressed well. He is learning to play without using his hands and he is finding where he can find offense. He was active against Pitt-Greensburg against a tough guard and if he continues to get better that will obviously help us.”
For Pitt-Greensburg, the high-scoring offense was paced by a field goal percentage of 57%. The Bobcats also made nine of 20 shots from beyond-the-arc, while the Jackets converted on just four of their 22 shots from 3-point land, lowering their season three-point percentage to 23.5-percent, which is the worst mark in the conference.
Christner is not worried about that low number, however.
“We got some really good looks on Saturday from three, and I mean really good looks,” said Christner. “We just didn’t make them. There was a stretch where they [Pitt-Greensburg] seemed to make them all and that happens. We shoot them well in practice so maybe there’s a transition that just isn’t there yet.”
For Christner there are certain parts of the game that have stuck out.
“The margin for error isn’t that big,” said Christner. “You know we don’t have an All-American that can bail you out of tough situations but what we do have is a good group, and it’s a hard-working group. We have to tighten up some things. At times it’s been rebounding, but that’s gotten a lot better and at times we have not shot the three well and that’s been a surprise to me and the guys I’m sure. “
Christner also keyed in on the big, momentum situations a team can have and a parody within the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.
“There are those momentum swings where you can, for example, hit a big three and be right in it and to this point we haven’t made those,” said Christner. “We have some things to work on and we will. There is a lot of parity in our conference this year outside of the top team, so we’ll have to scratch and claw for success.”
Moving forward, the Jackets will play a two-game set at the Holiday Inn College Park Classic in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Waynesburg plays The Catholic University of America on Tuesday, Dec. 29, before playing either Ursinus or Williams pending the results of Tuesday night’s action in D.C.
“We need to figure some things out rotationally in regards to how long we let guys go,” said Christner. “In some places maybe we’ve let guys go too long. Also, we need to develop a mentality defensively that we are going to play with. We’ve been inconsistent at times in that end.”
Following the tournament, Waynesburg returns to PAC action a pair of conference home games on Jan. 2 and Jan. 6 against Washington & Jefferson and Saint Vincent, respectively.
“It’s great to be competitive. You have to give yourself a chance,” said Christner. “But at some point there has to be some level of disgust about losing and we felt that against Westminster. There needs to be a little bit more mental toughness in terms of holding the line. I like our group. We need to continue to keep plugging away and be a team in the second half that nobody wants to play.”
Tipoff for Tuesday’s game against The Catholic University of America is set for 5 p.m. The next night, pending the results of Tuesday’s action, the Jackets will either play at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.