No. 3 IU East cruises past thinning men’s roster
Photo by Briana Walton | Point Park Athletics
Senior guard Rushan Roberts drives to the hoop against IU East last Tuesday during his 16-point performance in the loss to the Red Wolves.
January 16, 2018
After the River State Conference loss to No. 3-ranked Indiana University East (17-2, RSC 6-0), the Pioneers have yet to register a win in 2018 as they were blown out at home on Tuesday night by the Red Wolves 122-85 at the CCAC-Allegheny Physical Education Building.
“As of right now, we only have seven guys, so it’s tough right now,” Head Coach Gabe Bubon said.
It was the Red Wolves’ bench play that came in handy against the Pioneers as it totaled 67 points with the help of 11 3-pointers on the night. The IU East bench accounted for 55 percent of the Red Wolves’ point total.
The red-hot shooting from long range is what gave IU East the early lead, hitting 12 out of their 20 3-pointers to close the half with a commanding 63-39 lead on 60 percent shooting.
“We just have to clean some things up on defense like boxing-out and closing-out on shooters,” freshman guard Mark Shehady said.
Senior guard Gavin Rajahpillay, who is averaging 17.0 points per game, injured his ankle late in the first half and did not return for the remainder of the game.
Despite his recent injuries, Rajahpillay said he is, “trying to get back out there ASAP.”
However, the all-conference guard surpassed the 1,000 point mark on Tuesday as Rajahpillay now has 1,003 points spanning over his college career, combining point totals from his two seasons with the Pioneers and his two years at Hagerstown Community College.
“This has been a goal of mine for a little while now,” Rajahpillay said. “I’m happy and I’m giving all the glory to the man upstairs.”
Freshman guard Mark Shehady had a team-high four assists in Point Park’s 122-85 loss last Tuesday against IU East at home.
The Pioneers continued to take a beating on defense in the second half as the Red Wolves were able to stretch their lead up to 41 points.
Point Park allowed 59 points in the second half and had IU East shooting at 50 percent from the floor and 85 percent from the free throw line.
The Red Wolves also added seven more 3-pointers to their total in the second half that made it nearly impossible to come back as Point Park could not keep up with the 3-point clinic of IU East.
“They (IU East) are a great team and we are still working on some things to get back to where we want to be,” Bubon said after the loss.
Sophomore guard Daniel King led the Pioneers with 28 points on 55 percent shooting from the field.
Senior forward Fousseini Konate tallied a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds while going 7-for-8 from the floor. Junior guard Asim Pleas and senior guard Rushan Roberts both put up 16 points apiece in the RSC loss.
Point Park was anxious to tip-off another RSC matchup at Ohio Christian University on Saturday, however, the game was postponed due to inclement weather causing hazardous traveling conditions. The makeup date is to be announced.
Point Park (4-12, 1-6 RSC) will host No.21-ranked Indiana University Southeast Friday at 7:30 p.m.
