Jan 17, 2018 6 min read

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WAYNESBURG – At halftime of the Washington & Jefferson-Waynesburg men’s basketball game Wednesday night, the Yellow Jackets were in full control of their Presidents’ Athletic Conference foe.

Waynesburg was leading 38-32, and W&J’s leading scorer, Sean Stinelli, only had one point.

Stinelli and the rest of the Presidents came out firing in the second half, though. Stinelli scored 19 of W&J’s 48 points after halftime to defeat Waynesburg, 80-77, at Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.

“We were really resilient,” W&J head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith said. “Even when we got down or got pushed around or made a bad play, we didn’t get down on ourselves. That response is what I’ve been looking for all year. This process is going through some rough stretches and it’s big to come out today to end that cycle.”

After starting the game 0-for-4 from the field, Stinelli made back-to-back three pointers early in the second half to put the Presidents (2-7, 3-13) down by one.

“He’s a really quick catch-and-shoot guy,” Stewart-Smith said. “He benefits when Brian Graytok plays like he did today. He had six assists and really got in the lane and found some guys open.”

With six minutes left in the game and W&J down 67-61, the sophomore guard made two mid-range jumpers and a three-pointer to give the Presidents their first lead since the opening minute of the game.

“I’ve been struggling a lot lately,” Stinelli said. “I was shooting pretty bad today, too, but our senior leader Brian Graytok really helped me out to get me two straight open ones. That really helped my confidence.”

With a minute left and the Presidents leading by two points, Stinelli hit a three-pointer – the game-altering bucket – to give the Presidents a five-point lead and prevent a Waynesburg (3-6, 7-9) comeback.

“It’s pretty obvious that we had a lack of communication and were not identifying guys,” Waynesburg head coach Mark Christner said. “We talked a lot about those three perimeter guys in particular, and they probably made 10 together.”

Waynesburg started the game on fire. The Yellow Jackets led 35-22 with 4:30 left in the half. Despite the good start, unnecessary fouls and a slow end to the half prevented Waynesburg from extending its lead. W&J made 17 of 28 free throws while the Yellow Jackets shot only 13 at the line, making seven.

“We didn’t get stops,” Christner said. “We weren’t as good on the defensive end. It’s hard to pull away when the other team is scoring.”

Brian Lindquist – W&J’s only post player – sparked the comeback with a layup and two free throws after being fouled. The senior forward scored 19 points, on six-of-12 shooting, and grabbed five rebounds.

Along with Lindquist and Stinelli, Jonathan DeVito made four three-pointers en route to a 15-point night. For Waynesburg, Matt Popeck, a freshman guard and Wash High graduate, led the Yellow Jackets with 22 points.

“He’s had a really nice year,” Christner said. “We’ve asked him to do a lot. It’s disappointing, because I think we scored it fairly well and did a lot of good things, but we came up short.”

Stinelli believes this win could serve as the start to better things for the struggling program. The win moves the Presidents out of last place and one game out of a conference tournament spot.

“We know we had confidence coming back from winning here last year. We match up well with them,” Stinelli said. “We’re an extremely young team. We’ve built a ton of chemistry; we’re best friends off the court, and that will transition well to this time of year.”

Women’s game: Wash & Jeff, 83-72

Similar to the men’s game, the Washington & Jefferson women’s team utilized the three-point shot to come from behind and defeat Waynesburg, 83-72.

The Presidents made nine-of-14 three-pointers, with Danielle Parker, a Canon-McMillan graduate, and Taley Dunaway combining to go eight-for-10 from behind the arc.

“(We didn’t) locate shooters,” said Waynesburg head coach Sam Jones. “We talk specifically about when they do shoot, and they shoot them in transition a lot. Parker hit three of her four on transition-type plays. Also, we didn’t stick to the basics. (Dunaway) was four-for-four, and I think a lot of it has to do with us not rotating properly or fast enough.”

With the game tied 12-11 midway through the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets (6-3, 10-6) ended the period on a 12-3 run to take a 10-point lead.

The Presidents (8-1, 14-2) went on a 16-6 run to start the second quarter, tying the game at 30 before Waynesburg retook the lead, 39-35, at halftime.

On the back of Parker’s three-point shooting, W&J began its comeback in the third quarter. The Presidents outscored the Yellow Jackets 29-18 to take a seven-point lead.

“Last year, she was one of our best three-point shooters. She’s been struggling a little bit this year,” W&J head coach Jina DeRubbo said. “We had a big talk yesterday and told her to stop being a baby and shoot it. She’s very dangerous from the three-point line.”

“(DeRubbo) has helped build my confidence a lot,” Parker said. “Since she has confidence in me to tell me even if I’m missing them to keep shooting.”

Dunaway came off the bench in the fourth quarter to join Parker in the three-point contest, making back-to-back threes early in the quarter to give the Presidents an 11-point lead.

“Taley Dunaway hit some big shots today,” DeRubbo said. “That’s what we wanted to do more of this year. We don’t normally shoot that well from three.”

Amirah Moore and Mya Gordon also led the Presidents, scoring 19 and 16 points, respectively. For Waynesburg, Addy Knetzer led all scorers with 24 points. Mackenna Drazich followed with 19 points.