News Release

WAYNESBURG, Pa. — Beau Wilson scored a game-high 16 points and Jeff Nero added 15 to lead Waynesburg past Thiel 94-55 on Monday night, extending the Yellow Jackets' winning streak to five games. Waynesburg (9-6, 2-2 PAC) has won its last three games by double digits and have already surpassed its victory total from last season.

The Yellow Jackets broke the game open with a 16-2 run midway through the first half. Junior reserve Jeff Linden scored all eight of points during the stretch, including a lay-up with 6:59 left that made the score 31-12.

Waynesburg stretched the lead over Thiel (2-13, 0-3 PAC) to 48-21 at halftime, finishing the final 5:42 of the half on a 15-3 run with Nero scoring six of his 11 first-half points.

The Yellow Jacket defense forced 17 Tomcat turnovers in the first half and converted them into 22 points. WC also took advantage of second-chance opportunities, scoring 16 points off nine offensive rebounds in the first half. In the opening 20 minutes, Waynesburg shot a solid 51.3 percent (20 of 39) from the field, while limiting Thiel to an 18.9 field-goal percentage (7 of 37).

The offensive fireworks continue for Waynesburg in the second half, as it expanded its lead to 32 points in the opening minutes, 53-21. Nero set the tone early in the half when he threw down an alley-oop pass from guard Marc Lodovico.

Lodovico finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Thiel could only trim the deficit to 26 points in the second period before Waynesburg answered with seven straight points, capped off with an off-the-glass alley-oop dunk by Nero from Jered Gamble, who finished with seven points and three assists off the bench.

The Yellow Jackets led by as much as 39 points, 94-55, in the second half when reserve guard Tim Drakeley scored the final points of the game with 42 seconds left.

Drakeley finished with 10 points off the bench in 11 minutes.

The Tomcats were paced offensively by James Beedle, who led the team with 15 points. Sophomore forward Joe Herrmann grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds (five offensive, 10 defensive) and scored nine points - seven below his season average.

The 39-point victory by Waynesburg is the largest margin of victory by the Yellow Jackets against a PAC opponent since the program joined the conference in 1990. It also is the greatest single-game margin of victory during the two-plus seasons of Frank Ferraro's tenure as head coach.

The Yellow Jackets continue conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 18, when they host first-year PAC member Thomas More. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Marisa Fieldhouse, where Waynesburg is a perfect 5-0 this season. The Yellow Jackets posted a 109-87 victory in the lone all-time meeting against the Saints back during the 1987-88 season.

Newspaper Box Score
Thiel College vs Waynesburg College
1-16-06 7:30 p.m. at Waynesburg, Pa. (Marisa Fieldhouse)
At Waynesburg, Pa. (Marisa Fieldhouse)
WAYNESBURG COLLEGE 94, THIEL COLLEGE 55
THIEL COLLEGE (2-13 (0-3 PAC))
James Beedle 5-14 2-4 15; Joe Herrmann 2-9 4-4 9; Andre Jones 3-8 2-3 8; Gary Gates 3-8 0-0 6; Brad Bowman 2-10 0-0 4; Geno Bianco 2-7 0-0 4; Steffon Radcliff 2-3 0-0 4; Dan Quiring 1-2 1-2 3; Damien Williams 1-4 0-0 2; Jeffrey Zelonka 0-1 0-0 0; Mike Quaglia 0-1 0-0 0; Stephen Laird 0-1 0-0 0; Tony White 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-71 9-13 55.
WAYNESBURG COLLEGE (9-6 (2-2 PAC))
Beau Wilson 6-12 2-2 16; Jeff Nero 7-18 0-0 15; Marc Lodovico 5-9 1-2 13; Tim Drakeley 5-7 0-1 10; Josh Parisi 4-6 1-2 9; Jeff Linden 4-5 0-0 8; Jered Gamble 2-5 3-3 7; Ryan Bujnowski 1-5 4-6 6; George Wasik 1-3 3-4 5; Jason Clark 1-1 0-0 3; Colby Grubich 1-3 0-0 2; Kenny Riddell 0-0 0-0 0; Dan Happe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-75 14-20 94.
Thiel College.................   21   34  -   55
Waynesburg College............   48   46  -   94
3-point goals-Thiel College 4-21 (James Beedle 3-8; Joe Herrmann 1-4; Gary Gates 0-1; Brad Bowman 0-2; Geno Bianco 0-2; Damien Williams 0-1; Tony White 0-2; Andre Jones 0-1), Waynesburg College 6-21 (Marc Lodovico 2-5; Beau
Wilson 2-8; Jason Clark 1-1; Jeff Nero 1-4; Jered Gamble 0-1; Ryan Bujnowski 0-1; Dan Happe 0-1).
Fouled out--Thiel College-None, Waynesburg College-None. Rebounds-Thiel College 53 (Joe Herrmann 15), Waynesburg
College 42 (Josh Parisi 9).
Assists-Thiel College 10 (Andre Jones 4), Waynesburg College 22 (Beau Wilson 5).
Total fouls-Thiel College 18, Waynesburg College 13.
Waynesburg surpasses win total from last season.
Waynesburg wins back-to-back conference games first time since 2002-03 season.
Waynesburg equals PAC win total from last season.