photo by Josh Croup
Senior guard Jerah’me Williams handles the ball against the IU East Red Wolves at CCAC South on Jan. 23.
Williams hit the game-winning shot in the final seconds to give Point Park the victory.
With the game tied at 68, Point Park guard Kelvin Goodwin passed the ball to fellow guard Jerah’me Williams. Upon receiving the pass, Williams pump faked a three-point attempt, then maneuvered his away around an Indiana University East defender and scored on a floater, giving the Pioneers a 70-68 lead with 17 seconds left.
“I was working on my floater all week,” Williams said. “I used it today, and it helped me.”
The Point Park men’s basketball team upset IU East 70-68 at home on Jan. 23, which marked the Red Wolves’ first Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) loss of the season, and improved the Pioneers’ overall record to 11-9. Moreover, it was also Point Park’s first-ever win against IU East — the all-time series is now 8-1 in favor of the Red Wolves.
“This [victory] showed me that this team has the desire to win,” said Point Park head coach Bob Rager after the game. “If we continue to have the desire to win, our talent will take over. 40 minutes of desire is what basketball’s about.”
During the first six minutes of play, IU East went on a 21-7 run — during which the Pioneers went two-of-nine from the field.
However, after a 30-second timeout with 13:32 remaining in the first half, the Pioneers’ offense rejuvenated itself. On the first possession after the timeout, Fousseini Konate scored from the beyond the arc. Goodwin racked up nine points during the remainder of the first half following the timeout — three of which came on a contested three-pointer with 1:29 to go in the opening half, tying the game at 35.
The Red Wolves regained the lead at the end of the first half, and held onto it until there were under eight minutes left in the game.
After Williams came up with a steal, he passed the ball to forward Yandell Denis, who scored on a layup to tie the game at 57 with 7:32 remaining.
On the ensuing IU East possession, Goodwin deflected a pass from a Red Wolves player, and the ball fell into Denis’ hands. Denis raced down the court and passed the ball to guard Sa’iid Allen, who made an uncontested three-point shot. That gave the Pioneers a 60-57 advantage with 7:01 left, which was the home team’s first lead of the game.
With the Red Wolves up 68-65, Williams sunk a three-point while guarded to tie the game with 1:00 left.
Then he hit the game-winning shot, which gave him 12 points in total against IU East. The senior guard did not score a single point in the first half, but he connected on two key shots in the second half.
On the Red Wolves last offensive play of the game, guard Vasha Davis attempted a layup in the paint, but Fousseini Konate blocked his shot from behind, which secured the Pioneers victory.
After the game, Goodwin said the triumph over IU East places the Pioneers one step closer to a playoff berth.
“It was a very important [win],” Goodwin said. “We’re still trying to make the playoffs.”
Rager, who is in his 27th year as head coach, stressed the importance of playing good basketball at the end of the season.
“This team can be very good if we can start playing down the stretch now,” Rager said. “That’s the whole idea – play well at the end [of the season].”
The Pioneers’ next game is at Ohio Christian University on Jan. 26.
