Back-to-back is good if you’re hitting home runs, not so much if you’re playing basketball games.

Playing back-to-back games took its toll on the St. Joseph Flyers as they fell 54-43 to the Wayne (W.Va.) Pioneers Saturday on Senior Night.

The Flyers, who end the regular season 8-12, struggled for three quarters before coming to life in the fourth quarter when a furious rally fell short.

“We were a little tired from Friday. You could see it in our legs early in the game,” Flyers coach Kevin Hacker said.

“We played pretty good considering. Our shots just wouldn’t fall in the second quarter and then we turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter.”

The Flyers were down 13-12 after the first quarter as Alex Swarts had four points.

But a four-point second quarter on 1-of-8 shooting left St. Joseph trailing 24-16 at intermission.

Wayne built a 38-24 lead after three quarters. Michael Basedow scored five of the Flyers eight points in the quarter.

Basedow scored seven points and Chad Harvey six in the fourth quarter as the Flyers outscored the Pioneers 19-16 but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Basedow led the Flyers with 16 points. Swarts had 10 points and 11 rebounds while Harvey added 10 points and four steals.

Andrew Woods had 13 points and Nick Newell 12 to lead Wayne.

Wayne13111416=54

St. Joseph124819=43

WAYNE (NA): Jared Boll 0 0 2-2 2, Nick Newell 3 2 0-0 12, Andrew Woods 3 0 5-5 13, Gar Roland 1 0 0-0 2, Shawn Gilliam 4 0 2-3 10, J.R. Preston 5 0 0-1 10, Shawn Napier 1 1 0-0 5. Totals: 18

3

9-11

54. Fols: 15. Fouled out: None.

ST. JOSEPH (8-12): Chad Harvey 4 0 2-2 10, Michael Basedow 6 0 4-5 16, Ryan Schwab 1 0 0-0 2, Jeremy Addis 2 0 1-4 5, Alex Swarts 5 0 0-0 10, Jerrod Laber 0 0 0-1 0, Clay Crum 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Waginger 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Staton 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-52

(1-8)

7-12

43. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 16-20=36 (Swarts 11, Staton 5, Basedow 5, Addis 5, Harvey 5). Assists: 6 (Crum 3, Schwab 2). Steal: 11 (Harvey 4, Swarts 2). Blocked shots: 4 (Basedow 2, Swarts 2). Turnovers: 24.