Head coach Bob Rager’s two-technical-foul ejection from the game against Walsh University last week could not spark back-to-back wins for the men’s basketball team in a crucial part of the season as the Pioneers went 1-2, winning against Roberts Wesleyan, losing to No. 5 Walsh and falling to Houghton College in overtime. Point Park fell to 11-13 overall, and to 3-6 in the conference, hurting its chances of making the American Mideast Conference (AMC) playoffs.
“This definitely hurts our look at the playoffs,” Rager said. “This isn’t about one game because we are capable to beat anyone that comes our way.”
The last time the Pioneers played Walsh, they lost 86-68. This time, the team had the same result, losing to Walsh 87-75. This game, however, was a crossover game so this loss will not hurt the Pioneers in the AMC standings.
Rager was ejected in the first half of the game after receiving two technical fouls by the referees for arguing. Point Park shot 41.7 percent from the field in the first half, compared to Walsh’s 48 percent, and the Pioneers were only down by 43-38 at half. Josh Trocchio, a sophomore guard, led Point Park with nine points in the first half.
“When your coach gets fired up it gets the whole team fired up, and he definitely got us going and gave us energy,” Josh Trocchio said.
Point Park’s shooting in the second half was not as good as it was in the first half, but the Pioneers were able to keep the game close. They shot 39 percent in the second half and Walsh shot 48 percent again. Anton Batyatin, a sophomore guard, had 19 points in the game, 11 of those in the second half. Point Park could not keep up with Walsh on the scoreboard and ended up losing.
“I hate losing, but we played hard against a good team, and we played as a team as the game went on,” Trocchio said. “Our offense looked good and we were getting good numbers, but as the game went on the defense looked tired.”
Point Park played Roberts Wesleyan (9-12, 0-7) on Friday. The Pioneers lost to Roberts Wesleyan 72-65 the last time they played them on Dec. 3. After losing to Walsh earlier in the week, Point Park came out firing on the boards, getting 12 offensive rebounds and 30 total rebounds in the first half.
