Men’s basketball rebounds with playoff seasonRebuilding a program is no easy task. Three straight losing seasons could put a damper on the program.Coming into this season, they had suffered back-to-back 16 loss seasons. But that did not discourage them this year, as they became the American Mideast Conference (AMC) Cinderella team to make the playoffs.One of the x-factors that would drive the squad was the addition of two senior transfers that helped guide the team. The first was forward Kris Douse, who ended up leading the nation with 12.6 rebounds per game in addition to his 20.1 points per game. The other key addition was guard Jimmy Sherwood, who averaged 17.8 points per contest.”Both of them were great,” sophomore guard T.J. Heatherington said in a phone interview. “They were the catalysts.”Both seniors earned spots on the AMC first team, with Douse earning the “newcomer of the year” award and finishing third in the “player of the year” award voting.”It’s a good feeling. It makes me feel like all the hard work paid off,” Sherwood said in a phone interview.”It was an honor to finish my career on a high note, both with the personal awards and the team’s success,” Douse said in a phone interview.The two catalysts helped get the season started off on the right track, notching big victories over No. 25 Sienna Heights and No. 18 Malone. This translated to an impressive 11-6 record. However, the season took a turn for the worst, as they dropped their next four games.  The playoffs were almost out of reach.”Everyone was kind of disappointed after we lost those games because we started out so hot,” Douse said. “We just wanted to keep our season alive.”Despite the setbacks and a rough stretch to end the year, no hope was lost.”None of us gave up. We knew that as fast as you can lose four games, you can win four,” Sherwood said/And win four games they did.They won their next three games, highlighted by a 76-75 road victory over #22 Malone. But a tough loss against Notre Dame (OH) almost ended their playoff hopes. Fortunately for them, they were still in a “win and you’re in” situation, but it would have to come against Daemen, a team that defeated the Pioneers by 12 earlier in the year.”We knew we still had a chance. It fueled us,” Heatherington said.Things looked bleak again as they fell behind by 24 late in the first half. But this team had one more comeback left in them, as Sherwood hit a 2-pointer with six seconds left to win 88-87, giving Point Park a 15-11 record in addition to the fifth and final seed in the AMC playoffs.But midnight struck for this Cinderella team against Cedarville in the first round of the playoffs. They were once again losing near the end of the half, this time by 19 points, but later brought themselves within three with less than ten seconds on the clock. A potential game-tying shot behind the arc missed with just seconds to go, ending the game, 82-77 to conclude their season with a 15-12 record.Despite falling short, the program has finally broken out of a rut that they were stuck in for the past few seasons. Although Douse and Sherwood are graduating, it’s hard not to be optimistic about the future.”Everyone wants it. This year we just got a little taste of the playoffs. I think there is no question that we will be back next year,” Heatherington said.Only time will tell.