Dec 18, 2016 By Kyle Dawson assistant Sports Editor 6 min read

29 points.

That was the average margin of defeat for the Bobcats of Pitt-Greensburg in eight losses to start the 2016-17 men’s basketball season.

The Bobcats played their first three games against Presidents’ Athletic Conference opponents and lost to Westminster College, Thiel College and Geneva College to start its season by 27, 44 and 28 points, respectively.

Waynesburg beat Thiel already this season on the road. The Jackets have not played Westminster or Geneva thus far.

The average margin of defeat, coupled with those three losses to teams not as good as Waynesburg on paper caused many to think Waynesburg would win against the Bobcats by more than 12 points in a 92-80 final score Saturday.

It wasn’t what head coach Mark Christner and the Jackets expected.

“We never go into a game assuming anything. When you get beat by 60 like they did, you certainly don’t like doing that,” said Christner. “[Pitt-Greensburg] played harder than I’ve seen it play all year and we expected that. Part of the issue was we had two and a half hours of practice all week with exams. I liked that we stayed poise and played the way we did defensively against a team that presents challenges for your defense. Anybody who thought we would win by 30 probably doesn’t realize how hard it is to win games.”

Waynesburg (4-5) and Pitt-Greensburg (0-9) played to a 27-27 tie with 5:50 remaining in the first half. That’s when Waynesburg took over.

Layups by freshman wing Nick Valentic and sophomore wing Clay Carper gave Waynesburg a 31-27 lead. Freshman guard Jo Jo West scored seven points in the final minutes of the first half to add to Waynesburg’s growing lead, a lead that was 41-32 at the half.

The run by Waynesburg wasn’t all good fortune.

With 1:07 to play in the opening half, junior wing Kendall Paige, who had started the game in place of senior guard Christian Koroly, went down attempting to control a loose ball off a missed layup by the Bobcats. Paige left the game and did not return. He left the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse with an air cast on his leg.

The injury isn’t the first to a Waynesburg player. Koroly suffered a concussion in the previous game, a loss to Saint Vincent, while freshman guard Frank Bozicevic has missed the better part of the season with a fractured bone in his hand. Valentic had also missed the last two games due to illness, and was forced to play more minutes with the injury to Paige.

“Valentic played way too many minutes first off,” said Christner. “He did a good job, though, and effected the game defensively. Offensively, when you’re out for a week it’s hard to do some things but he responded well. Clay did a good job too. Jo Jo played as well as he’s played all year and of course [senior guard] Timmy Kaiser has been our ironmen. We responded well to that situation.”

Junior wing Jon Knab, who led the team again in scoring in the win with 20, agreed with his coach’s sentiments.

“Kendall has been playing really well so we knew we all had to step up when he went down,” said Knab. “I think we did that in the second half, and we knew without him some of us would get longer runs but it’s our last game for a while so we had to do it.”

Waynesburg outscored its opponent 51-48 in a back-and-forth second half, in which Knab scored 11 of his 20 points, at one point taking over the game by himself by getting to the basket.

“I know a lot in the second half I got some looks down low and I wanted to attack the hole as much I could,” said Knab. “We’re missing a lot of guys, but everyone stepped up, and a lot of the responsibility is on me to score and I was able to do it.”

Junior forward Marcus Wallace chipped in a good effort too, scoring 17 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. It’s Wallace’s second double-double of the season.

“Anytime you can get a lot of production out of guys like Wallace, Valentic and Brennan [Smith], it’s huge,” said Knab. “We know when we’re scoring like that and rebounding well we will be a tough team to beat.”

“It’s similar in some respects to the St. Vincent game,” said Christner. “Nate’s three in the corner was a huge shot in the game and we turned them over enough to repel their surge. Offensively, the biggest thing was us not turning it over.”

Waynesburg only turned the ball over 12 times in the game and was able to get to the free throw line 33 times, making 22.

Outside of Wallace and Knab, Waynesburg got 11 points from senior guard Timmy Kaiser to go along with his five assists, and 10 points from sophomore wing Nate Gearhart. West scored nine points too.

“We got layups in the second half and got to the rim in the second half,” said Christner. “We’re kind of growing into what we want to be and that is a versatile team that can do a lot of things.”

Regarding Kaiser’s play, Christner said it was “rock-solid.”

“He’s fun to coach and the guys look up to him,” said Christner. “He does a lot for us outside of scoring and passing.”

Waynesburg now is faced with a 12-day layoff prior to going to Ohio for the Smokey Barrenger Tournament Dec. 29-30.

It is a chance for some guys to get rest, all the while staying focused and sharp.

“We didn’t have much of a Thanksgiving break. This is a chance for some guys to get some rest,” said Christner. “We’ve given all of our guys a specific plan to incorporate into their time. It’s good for our freshman to go home and get some home-cooked meals and rest up and for other guys too. We’ll get our energy level up and when they come back there’s a push we want to be ready for.”

Waynesburg tips off against Hiram at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29.