WAYNESBURG, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's basketball team used a dominant second half performance to secure a 61-52 victory and hand Waynesburg its first Presidents' Athletic Conference of the season Wednesday evening at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. 

W&J moves back into first place in the conference as it improves its record to 6-1 in conference play and 11-3 overall. The loss drops Waynesburg to 3-1 in league games and 7-4 overall. 

A trio of Presidents combined accounted for a large chunk of the Presidents 61 points on the evening. Junior guard Kyran Mitchell (Reading, Pa./Berks Catholic) led the pack with 19 points and 12 rebounds, registering his seventh double-double of 2021-22. Sophomore guards Michael Bigley (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton La Salle) and J.R. Mazza (Bridgeport, W.VA./University) accounted for 16 points and 14 points, respectively. 

The Presidents struggled offensively as they were held to a season-low in points and managed just 20 during the first half. However, W&J used strong halfcourt defense to beat Waynesburg at its own game in a matchup of two of the top teams in the PAC. 

Mitchell accounted for all six points for W&J over the first 12 minutes of the contest. A three-pointer by Mazza ended a five-plus minute scoring drought for W&J, as the Red and Black used the triple to cut its deficit to 18-9 with 8:22 to play in the first half. Waynesburg led by as many as six points for the remainder of the opening 20 minutes before taking a 28-20 lead into halftime. Despite struggling a tad from the field, Mitchell found a way to score 10 of the 20 first half points for the Presidents. 

The Presidents found their footing early in the second half, as they used an 8-2 run to trim its deficit to 30-28 at the 15:22 mark. Nick Gearhart (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) was a catalyst for W&J's early second half run, as the sophomore accounted for seven of the eight points. 

A three-pointer by Mazza with 9:37 remaining in the second half gave W&J's its first lead of the night. The Mazza triple made the score 37-34 in favor of the Red and Black. 

The teams traded points for the next four-plus minutes before Mazza knocked down a three-point field goal to stretch the Presidents' lead to 46-41 with 5:23 to play in the second half. 

Waynesburg trimmed its deficit to three points on two occasions down the stretch but could get no closer. Bigley gave W&J some breathing room with a successful three-pointer to bolster the lead to seven (53-46) with 1:53 to play. A pair of free throws by Mazza with 36 seconds left gave W&J its largest lead at 10. 

The Presidents committed just nine turnovers to 19 for the Yellow Jackets. Both teams struggled from the field, as W&J converted at a 27.4 clip (17-62) and Waynesburg made 31.5 percent (17-54). The Presidents made more free throws (21-of-33) than the Jackets attempted (14-of-18). Waynesburg held a slight 47-41 edge in rebounding.

W&J was able to slow one of the PAC's top scorers, limiting Matt Popeck to 14 points. Popeck made just five-of-17 field goal attempts, missed all eight three-point attempts and committed six turnovers. Nijon Kirkman posted a double-double for Waynesburg with 14 points and 14 boards. 

W&J travels to Grove City for a league game on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 3 p.m.