Jan 4, 2020 3 min read

It has been a rough season for the Waynesburg men’s basketball team and first-year head coach Tim Fusina.

The Yellow Jackets lost last year’s leading scorer Matt Popeck to an injury after only two games and were still looking for their first win of the season entering Saturday. They finally got that elusive victory, and in a very thrilling fashion.

Waynesburg battled back from a 14-point halftime deficit to stun Geneva 76-72 in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game on the Golden Tornadoes’ home court.

The Yellow Jackets (1-3, 1-12) started out well, forging an early 11-point lead before Geneva put together a 19-0 run to take a 44-31 lead.

Waynesburg started the second half just like it had in the first and took the lead for good at 57-56 on a jumper by Isaiah Alonzo, who led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points. Waynesburg led the rest of the way, though Geneva pulled to within 73-72 with 44 seconds remaining. The Yellow Jackets’ Ryan Felberg, who scored 16 points, made his fourth three-pointer of the game, with 15 seconds left, to seal the win.

Frank Bozicevic scored 17 points for Waynesburg and Brennan Smith had 10. Alonzo had a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with his 19 points.

Ethan Moose and Joel Stutz each had 17 points for Geneva (1-2, 5-7).

Westminster 69, Wash & Jeff 56: Daniel Ritter and Blake Payne combined for 49 points as Westminster remained tied for first place in the PAC with a 69-56 victory over Washington & Jefferson.

Ritter scored a game-high 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting to lead the Titans (3-1, 8-5). Payne followed with 21 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

W&J (2-2, 7-5) had a poor shooting day, connecting on only 32 percent from the field. The Presidents were 3-for-20 from three-point range and attempted just nine free throws.

Kyran Mitchell led the Presidents in scoring with 11 points and Alexander Skowron had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Women’s results

Waynesburg 93, Geneva 76: Sparked by a 31-point first quarter and four players scoring in double figures, Waynesburg ended a seven-game losing streak by defeating Geneva, 93-76, in a PAC game.

Despite the big first quarter, Waynesburg led by only 49-46 at halftime and didn’t shake Geneva (0-3, 1-9) until the fourth quarter.

Andrea Orlosky scored 21 points to top the Yellow Jackets’ offense. She also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Brooke Fuller followed with 19 points, and Kacey Kastroll and Alli DeLaney each had 14. Erin Joyce played a solid floor game with 10 assists.

Geneva’s Lauren Tipton scored a game-high 23 points before fouling out.

Westminster 72, Wash & Jeff 69: Kayla Bennett scored 19 points and PAC-leading Westminster battled back from a double-digit deficit to defeat Washington & Jefferson, 72-69.

W&J (2-2, 7-5) led by 10 points in the second quarter before Westminster closed to within 34-31 at halftime.

The game was close throughout the second half. Following an offensive foul on W&J, Bennett made two free throws that gave Westminster (4-0, 11-2) the lead for good at 69-67 with 23 seconds remaining. The Titans protected the lead by making three more free throws down the stretch. For the game, Westminster was 25-for-30 at the free-throw line.

W&J’s Hannah Johnston scored a career-high 21 points and led four Presidents in double figures. Alie Seto, who battled foul trouble for most of the game, had 12 points, Lauren Gilbert had 10 and Maria Lawhorne scored 10.