Jan 2, 2016 5 min read

WAYNESBURG – The men’s basketball team at Waynesburg University needed a spark Saturday afternoon against visiting Washington & Jefferson, and they got it from a pair of seniors.

B.J. Durham made a layup with 1:39 remaining and senior D.J. Ritchie put back a rebound on Durham’s missed free throw to give the Yellow Jackets breathing room on the way to a 70-58 Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, but we battled,” said Waynesburg head coach Mark Christner. “We want our kids to play hard for 40 minutes and we did that today. We finally made something happen at the end of the game.”

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Waynesburg (2-2, 2-10). W&J (0-4, 0-11) is still in search of its first victory.

The game was closer than the final score indicated as the second half had eight ties and eight lead changes.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball as the Yellow Jackets made just 35.7 percent from the floor and W&J only 33.3 percent.

The game was tied, 50-50, with 4:47 to play when Waynesburg went on a 9-2 run. W&J cut the lead to 55-52 before Ritchie’s put-back with 1:39 to play.

“They made some adjustments down the stretch on ball screens, and we just couldn’t get good looks,” said W&J head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith. “We just didn’t execute very well down the stretch. It’s a learning process. We are a young team.”

The difference in the game turned out to be free throw shooting as Waynesburg knocked down 14 of 18 (79 percent) and W&J made only 14 of 25 (56 percent).

“It was big,” said Christner. “We have a bunch of guys who can shoot them. When we are shooting well as a team, we need to get to the line a lot.”

Waynesburg got off to a strong start and built a 17-6 lead largely in part to some good perimeter shooting.

W&J fought back and chipped away at the Yellow Jackets’ lead, eventually tying the game, 23-23, on a dunk by Chartiers-Houston graduate Kodie Hanley with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half.

Trinity graduate Christian Koroly answered with a three-point shot at the other end of the floor to put Waynesburg back on top, where the Yellow Jackets stayed until W&J’s Brian Graytok hit a late layup to send the game into the locker room tied, 32-32.

Graytok led all scorers with 21 points.

Waynesburg had a major advantage with depth. The Yellow Jackets had 10 different players score while W&J played only six for most of the game.

“When you don’t have depth, you have to be perfect,” said Stewart-Smith. “We were for about 35, 36 minutes, but we are still looking for a perfect 40 minutes.”

Waynesburg was led in scoring by Ritchie, who had 14 points. Nate Labishak was also in double figures with 11.

“We got a big lift from our seniors when we needed it, but we also had some young guys out there contributing as well,” said Stewart-Smith.

Women’s Results

W&J 77, Waynesburg 64

Usually, when the women’s basketball teams from Washington & Jefferson and Waynesburg compete, it’s generally a well-played, close game.

This wasn’t one of those cases as W&J jumped to a large early lead and came away with a 77-64 victory in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.

Waynesburg’s Abby Knetzer gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead with a pair of free throws before W&J put together an impressive 27-2 first-quarter run for a 31-7 advantage after one quarter.

W&J (4-0, 9-2), which made 13 of 19 field goal attempts during the first quarter, held Waynesburg (2-2, 4-7) to just 1 of 16 shooting and produced seven turnovers during the early run.

“We executed really well,” said W&J head coach Jina DeRubbo. “I don’t think we missed a shot for a long stretch in the first quarter. We worked to get good shots and we passed the ball really well.”

The Presidents built a 46-27 halftime lead before the third quarter belonged to senior Beka Bellhy. Bellhy, the PAC’s leading scorer and rebounder, tossed in 12 of her game-high 21 points during the quarter as W&J extended its lead to as many as 29.

Rachel Bellhy (12), Amirah Moore (12), Danielle Parker (11) and Taylor Cortazzo (10) also scored in double figures for W&J.

“Our depth is getting better,” DeRubbo said. “That’s something that continues to get better and we will keep working on. We want to keep getting our younger players more experience.”

Waynesburg was led in scoring by Katie Gehlmann with 16. Knetzer (12) and Julie Deklaven (11) also scored in double figures for the Yellow Jackets.