PITTSBURGH - Chatham Men's Basketball (7-1, 5-0) squeaked out a 64-60 victory over the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets (3-5, 2-2) on Wednesday night at the Athletic and Fitness Center. The win marks the Cougars' best start to conference in program history at 5-0.

Diaun Pinkett led the game with 22 points, 12 of which came from the charity stripe. Pinkett added five steals, three rebounds and two assists in the winning effort. Hunter Verling netted 12 points on 6-7 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Lovenson Xavier was the only other Cougar in double-figures, scoring 11 points to go along with six rebounds and two blocks. Easton Fulmer and Luca Robinson each went 2-3 from deep, scoring eight and seven points respectively.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to an early lead with a 12-2 run to start the game, but the Cougars responded with a 15-2 run, which included back-to-back threes from Fulmer, to take a 17-14 lead. The teams traded scores to keep Waynesburg within one point, then Robinson knocked down a triple to make it 24-20 at 7:52. Pinkett was able to knock down a three-pointer to make Chatham's lead six, but a quick 4-0 got Waynesburg back into the game. Chatham would go into the halftime break leading 31-28.

The Cougars used another Robinson three to separate themselves early in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets were able to manufacture an extended 16-2 run to go up by eight points with just under 13 minutes left to play. Chatham didn't blink and clawed back with an 11-2 run, including seven points from Pinkett, to take a one-point lead with seven minutes remaining. The lead changed hands multiple times down the stretch, with plenty of action from the foul line, but it was the Cougars who came out on top, closing the game on a 7-2 run.

Chatham shot 38.5% (20-52) from the floor and 73.9% (17-23) from the free-throw line. Each team committed 13 turnovers, and Waynesburg won the rebound battle 40-37.

Chatham Men's Basketball is back in the AFC on Saturday to host Grove City at 2 p.m.