Jackets extend winning streak on the road with win at Bethany
Saturday’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference matchup between the Waynesburg University men’s basketball team and Bethany College was one of the most intriguing games on the slate for this past week. The Yellow Jackets dominated the matchup, defeating the Bison by a final score of 78-53.
For Waynesburg, it was the team’s sixth straight triumph and the eighth win out of the last ten games for the Jackets. They defeated a Bethany team that had run off eight straight wins since losing to the Jackets on the road back in January.
But, the win also served as the program’s first win at the Hummel Fieldhouse in Bethany, West Virginia since Jan. 29, 2000.
“It was a good challenge for us and we responded well as a team,” said head coach Mark Christner. “Bethany was playing very well coming in.”
“You watch them on film and they had established a style of play that has been disruptive for opposing teams. We tried to force them to take tough jumpers and stay aggressive.”
Christner also said that playing aggressive defensively did not allow Bethany to get into their zone at times, which allowed Waynesburg to run in transition.
What seems to be a common theme the last few weeks, defensive stops led to open looks and open areas on the other end of the floor against the Bison zone defense. Waynesburg was able to knock down 48 percent of its shots from the field, with four players scoring in double figures.
Senior Jacob Fleegle had a game-high 17 en route to reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his Waynesburg career. Fleegle became the 33rd member of the 1,000 points club at Waynesburg, thus joining his teammate Jason Propst as the second Jacket to reach the mark this season.
The last time the Jackets had two players reach the milestone in the same season was when Marc Lodovico and Jeff Nero did so in the 2006-07 season.
Junior B.J. Durham had 12 points, while seniors Kenny Klase and Thomas Ellis recorded 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“We scored because we were active flashing against the zone and made shots,” said Christner. “We were trying to be assertive offensively too and did a good job in that respect too.”
Waynesburg had an assist on 23 of its 30 made shots, which according to Christner, was huge in building the lead and in the eventual
winning effort.
Fleegle echoed his coach’s sentiment.
“The assists were huge against the zone,” said Fleegle. “We played unselfish as a team. When you do that, it’s a recipe for success. We did a great job of getting the ball to where we wanted to and finishing from there.”
The PAC’s second-leading scorer, Delonte’ Joyce was held to just four points in the first half and then held in check the second half as well. The senior headed into Saturday’s action scoring at a clip of almost 19 points per game.
“Our guys played him aggressively and forced him to take tough and contested jumpers,” said Christner. “Byrum [Louco], Casey [Hope] and even B.J. [Durham] played him very well and that led to them having to find other ways to try and score. They [Bethany] weren’t able to score as well as they normally do.”
Moving forward, the Jackets will enter the PAC Tournament as either the #2 or #3 seed pending on yesterday’s matchup with Geneva, as well as the outcome of the Thomas More-Saint Vincent matchup on Saturday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
With a win versus Geneva and a Thomas More loss to the first-place Bearcats, the Jackets would break the tie with Thomas More and enter the playoffs as the number two seed, while any combination of a Saints win or Waynesburg loss would isolate the Jackets as the number three seed heading into tournament play next week.
No matter the result, the Jackets will host a PAC Tournament game Tuesday, Feb. 24 against an opponent that has yet to be determined. It will be the second year in a row in which Waynesburg has hosted a men’s first-round game.
“We saw the atmosphere last year,” said Fleegle. “It was awesome. We’ve played well at home and it is so important that we can play in front of a home crowd that has been so supportive of us for the last two years.”
Christner said the team’s focus will remain what it has been all year.
“We are moving into
execute or be done territory,” said Christner. “We’ve played well at home and it’s great we get to stay here for the first round, but we have to play well to get the job done and hopefully we will.”