News Release

WAYNESBURG, Pa. — Junior forward Jeff Nero posted 24 points and nine rebounds to pace the Yellow Jackets to a decisive victory over Mount Aloysius, 106-78. The Waynesburg defense forced 27 Mountie turnovers which resulted in 37 points, most of which contributed to 28 fast-break points for the Yellow Jackets. With the win, Waynesburg extended its win streak to three and remains in second place of the Presidents' Athletic Conference with a 4-2 overall record.

Nero hit 11-of-23 field goals and added five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. The 6-1 forward scored 15 of his game-high 24 points while playing just 14 minutes of the second half. Nero, a graduate of Union, leads the Yellow Jackets this season with a career-best 19.3 points/game, while also posting 6.0 rebounds/game and 3.2 steals/game.

For the game, Waynesburg shot 56.8 percent (46 of 81) from the floor, including an astounding 68.6 percent (24 of 35) during the second half. The Yellow Jacket defense, meanwhile, held the Mounties to just a 34.1 field goal percentage in the final period.

With 1:25 left in the first half, Nero sank a three-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets a 48-39 lead. Waynesburg added a pair of lay-ups before heading to break with the score at 52-39. The Yellow Jackets added a pair of baskets in the opening 30 seconds of the second half, including one by Nero which capped an 11-0 run over a 1:59-minute stretch.

Waynesburg prevented the Mounties from cutting the deficit into single digits, as midway through the half it went on a 8-0 run that was started with a Nero three-pointer.

The Yellow Jacket bench accounted for over half of the 106 points scored on Wednesday, as juniors Shawn Coleman and Jeff Linden recorded season highs with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Sam Hanik led Mount Aloysius with 18 points and 13 boards, while Justin Ohler also posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

At the season-opening tournament, the Mounties registered a 104-90 defeat of the Yellow Jackets despite a combined 42 points from Nero and Beau Wilson, who saw limited minutes on Wednesday due to foul trouble. In the previous meeting this season, guard Roman Mims bucketed 31 points, while he struggled to get 13 points the second time around, shooting just 4 of 17 from the field.

Waynesburg, who scored over 100 points for the 104th time in program history, starts a four-game road trip on Saturday, Dec. 10, when it travels to face Penn State-Altoona. The Yellow Jackets have won eight of 14 all-time meetings against the Lions of Altoona. However, the Lions received 71 points from their starting five to post 78-68 victory in last season's meeting.

Newspaper Box Score
Mount Aloysius College vs Waynesburg College
12/7/05 7:30 p.m. at Waynesburg, Pa. (Marisa Fieldhouse)
At Waynesburg, Pa. (Marisa Fieldhouse)
WAYNESBURG COLLEGE 106, MOUNT ALOYSIUS COLLEGE 78
MOUNT ALOYSIUS COLLEGE (4-2)
Hanik Sam 7-13 2-5 18; Ohler Justin 6-14 0-0 13; Mims Roman 4-17 3-4 13; Snyder Jimmy 3-3 3-4 10; Slatcoff Jeff 2-8 5-8 9; Murray Ben 2-8 0-0 4; Oxley Anthony 1-4 0-0 3; Neubauer J.B. 1-1 0-0 2; Sapurik Bojan 1-1 0-0 2; Head Randolph 1-2 0-0 2; Brandreth Phil 1-4 0-0 2; Rummel Frank 0-1 0-0 0; Flowers Brock 0-0 0-0 0; Bender A.J. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-78 13-21 78.
WAYNESBURG COLLEGE (4-2)
Jeff Nero 11-23 0-0 24; Shawn Coleman 8-9 1-2 17; Jeff Linden 7-10 2-3 16; Ryan Bujnowski 3-6 2-4 8; Tim Drakeley 4-7 0-1 8; Josh Parisi 3-5 2-2 8; Marc Lodovico 3-6 0-0 6; Dan Happe 2-2 0-0 6; Beau Wilson 2-7 0-0 5; George Wasik 2-2 1-3 5; Chris Moore 1-2 0-0 2; Jered Gamble 0-1 1-2 1; Colby Grubich 0-0 0-0 0; Kenny Riddell 0-0 0-0 0; Jason Clark 0-0 0-0 0; John Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0; Josh Engle 0-0 0-0 0; Andy Erjavek 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 46-81 9-17 106.
Mount Aloysius College........   39   39  -   78
Waynesburg College............   52   54  -  106
3-point goals-Mount Aloysius College 7-26 (Hanik Sam 2-4; Mims Roman 2-7; Ohler Justin 1-2; Snyder Jimmy 1-1; Oxley Anthony 1-3; Brandreth Phil 0-2; Bender A.J. 0-1; Murray Ben 0-2; Slatcoff Jeff 0-4), Waynesburg College 5-11
(Dan Happe 2-2; Jeff Nero 2-5; Beau Wilson 1-3; Marc Lodovico 0-1).
Fouled out--Mount Aloysius College-None, Waynesburg College-None.
Rebounds-Mount Aloysius College 50 (Hanik Sam 13), Waynesburg College 43 (Jeff Nero 9).
Assists-Mount Aloysius College 16 (Slatcoff Jeff 4), Waynesburg College 26 (Jered Gamble 5; Jeff Nero 5).
Total fouls-Mount Aloysius College 18, Waynesburg College 19.
A-215
Waynesburg wins third straight
Nero (WAY) ties season and career high with 24 points
Linden (WAY) scores season and career high 16 points
Waynesburg scores 100-plus points for 104th time in program history