While the Point Park community went on winter break, the men’s basketball team kept themselves warm with nine games over the break.
The Pioneers started the break off against Penn State-Beaver with a winning game of 108-92.
The Pioneers fell behind in the first half despite shooting 52 percent, while Penn State-Beaver out shot them by 55 percent.
The motivation came back in the second half with the Pioneers forcing 17 turnovers.
Point guard Jerah’me Williams and forward Barry Smith both had double-doubles for Point Park. Williams put up 27 points and had 10 assists while Smith had 23 points and 15 rebounds.
The Pioneers then moved to play West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) with a loss of 92-80.
Point Park started off ahead with a lead of 53-47, but after a timeout WVU Tech came back with a lead of 67-57 by the end of the half.
The Pioneers tried to slow down WVU Tech with a few of their own timeouts but that didn’t stop the Golden Bears from shooting 58 percent from the floor and made five of 11 3-pointers the second half.
Williams totaled 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Pioneers. Senior forward Alan Heter added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Pioneers then started off a four game week from Dec. 1-6.
The week started off against Maine-Fort Kent.
Freshman guard Sa’iid Allen scored a game high 25 points and made half of his attempted 3-pointers.
Heter had 13 of his 18 points, helping the Pioneers build a 19-point lead, 50-31 at the break.
Point Park controlled the rebounds 50-39, with Smith having a game high 14 rebounds, with also nine points, two blocks and three steals. This helped the Pioneers win with an ending score of 94-82.
The Pioneers then had their rematch against WVU Tech, with yet another loss of 90-70.
Point Park once again held a lead at halftime over WVU Tech, but once the second half came, the Golden Bears pulled away with another win.
The Pioneers ended the week with games against Washington Adventist and Cincinnati Christian.
Washington Adventist battled back to a 81-77 win over the Pioneers.
Point Park had double-digit leads in both halves, but Washington Adventist came back in the second half, outscoring the Pioneers 44-23.
Finishing off the week, the Pioneers had a close win against Cincinnati Christian 75-71.
Williams led all scorers with 26 points, Yandell Denis had five points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Pioneers then went on a month break and returned to a game against Asbury.
Asbury had remained unbeaten at home, and Point Park was no exception.
T.J. Lanier had a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds, Smith had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Pioneers lost with a final score of 94-71.
Point Park had another conference loss against Alice Lloyd, 72-63.
The Pioneers had a season-low 63 points, although they came into the game ranked second in NAIA Division II with 93.2 points per game.
The Eagles, who remained unbeaten in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), had gotten a 10-2 run for a 39-36 lead.
The Pioneers then had a comeback with Rio Grande 98-96.
This victory improved Point Park to 9-6 overall and 1-2 KIAC.
Williams had a huge game with 27 points and eight assists, Lanier had 23 of his career-high 28 points after halftime.
The Pioneers next game is Tuesday, Jan. 20 at home against Cincinnati Christian.
