WAYNESBURG, Pa. – The Thiel College men's basketball team was edged out by Waynesburg University 56-53 in a road Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game Saturday afternoon at Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.

Thiel jumped out to an early 13-5 lead at the 12:21 mark of the first half and held on to the lead heading into halftime as it was 21-19 at the break.

The Tomcats came out hot in the second half going on a 6-0 run to take a 27-19 lead with 17:18 left in the game. Thiel managed to maintain an eight point lead with 13:14 remaining, as the Tomcats led 36-28.

The Yellow Jackets took their first lead of the second half at the 10:37 mark as Marcus Wallace converted on two free throw attempts to make it 37-36 in favor of Waynesburg. Thiel answered quickly as Alonzo Brown (Largo, Fla./Pinellas Park) made a three-pointer to put Thiel up two, 39-37.

Waynesburg amassed a seven point lead with 2:16 remaining before Thiel added buckets by Avril Campbell (Dumfries, Va./Potomac) and Tyreik Burton (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) on back to back possessions to pull within three.

With 32 seconds remaining, Waynesburg turned the ball over to give Thiel a chance to tie the game. The Tomcats called a timeout but were unable to convert on the following possession and fell by a final of 56-53.

Nyric Gosley (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) lead all scorers with 17 points in the game, Burton added 12 points for the Tomcats. With the loss, Thiel drops to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the PAC.

Next up for the Tomcats will be Ashland University on Dec. 30 in a non-conference road matchup, tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.