Men Return Home After Starting Conference Play With Three Road Games
At the outset of conference play in the 2016-17 season, the men’s basketball team had three straight road games.
Waynesburg split the first two, losing at Bethany Wednesday, Nov. 30, and winning at Grove City Saturday, Dec. 3. The third Presidents’ Athletic Conference road contest was played Wednesday, Dec. 7, past deadline for this week’s publication.
Head coach Mark Christner’s team in the last few years has struggled to get things going on the road, but once it returns home, the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse has become friendly confines.
“I think we want to be able to be consistent wherever we play, whether it’s home or on the road,” said Christner. “It’s nice to play home games down the stretch. I think that’s part of the reason why we’ve had some success in January and February because we are home. I haven’t looked at it but it seems like we’re always on the road early and home late.”
Waynesburg plays a conference game at home for the first time this season, Saturday, Dec. 10, when it plays host to the four-time reigning PAC Champions, the St. Vincent Bearcats.
Last season, Waynesburg split with the Bearcats, with both teams winning on the road.
Then-senior guard Jaylon Bell paced the Bearcats offensively with 27 points in a game in which the Bearcats shot 43 percent from the field and 15-17 from the free-throw line.
Historically, and especially recently, the Carey Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was a venue in which the home team rarely loses. The Jackets were able to go to St. Vincent and knock off the Bearcats for their first road win of the 2015-16 season, winning 73-64. Then-seniors for the Jackets, DJ Ritchie and BJ Durham, paced the offense scoring 19 and 17 points in the win, respectively.
Fast forward to this season, St. Vincent has graduated eight seniors from last year’s team including each of its top five scorers. With the spots open, junior forward Austin Dedert has continued to contribute while juniors Tom Kromka and Matt D’Amico and senior Austin Ford have picked up the majority of the scoring slack left by Bell, Pat Jones and JC Howard, among others.
Christner still sees a good team in the Bearcats, who he said are coached well by D.P. Harris.
“They are solid. They graduated eight guys who won four league championships, so they have some new faces,” said Christner. “The adjustment period for us of playing a lot of new guys together is still going on and they are experiencing it a bit. They have good athleticism and good interior play and a culture of success so we anticipate they will be ready to play but so will we. I think it should be a good game.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse Saturday, Dec. 10.