WAYNESBURG – In a matchup of the two best three-point shooting teams in Presidents' Athletic Conference, it was Waynesburg University that drained 13 triples to beat the W&J men's basketball team 85-67 at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.
The loss drops the Presidents to 7-7 in league play and 9-14 overall, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 6-7 in conference action and 7-15 overall.
The Presidents gained the early advantage as the contest was back and forth early on. A layup by junior guard Jonathan DeVito (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) gave W&J a 9-7 lead at the 16:06 mark. Waynesburg quickly responded with an 11-0 run to surge into the lead at 18-9 with 13:36 remaining in the opening half of play.
Four consecutive points by freshman guard Primo Zini (Morgantown, W.Va./Trinity Christian) cut the Yellow Jacket lead back to five points (18-13) and a little later a layup by senior guard Sven Zepic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) would trim the deficit to 24-20 at the 9:10 mark.
Behind more three-point shooting, Waynesburg rattled off a 16-7 run over the next six-plus minutes to take their largest lead of the first half, 40-27 at the 2:57 mark.
The Presidents worked themselves back into it with a 10-2 run to close the half. In the final minute, a dunk by sophomore forward Nicholas Campalong (Sewickley, Pa./Ambridge) followed by a layup by Zini cut the deficit to 42-37 at halftime.
W&J opened the second half with an extended 14-7 run to regain a 51-49 advantage at the 15:37 mark. A three-point play by sophomore guard Cameron Seemann (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) followed by a jumper from sophomore guard Zach Queen (Jeannette, Pa./Hempfield) and a free throw by Zini closed the run.
The host Yellow Jackets would quickly counter with seven straight points to take a 56-51 lead with 11:48 remaining in the second half. A pair of free throws by Zini brought W&J back within a possession (56-53) with 11:16 to play.
The Presidents remained competitive over the next five minutes, as Seemann drained a triple to trim the deficit to 63-60 with 6:49 to play.
However, like they did in the first meeting, the Jackets closed out the game with a lengthy run. The home team used a 14-2 run over the next three plus minutes to effectively put the game out of reach.
Three Presidents finished in double figures, as Seemann and Zini both finished with a team-best 15 points. Meanwhile, DeVito added 12 points for W&J. Matt Popeck led all scorers with 26 points for Waynesburg.
W&J has the weekend off before closing out the regular season with a pair of PAC contests next week. First up for W&J is a road trip to Bethany College on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Start time is set for 7:30 p.m.