More losses pile up in latest setback for men

Written By Derek Malush, Staff Writer

It has been a lopsided season for the Point Park men’s basketball team as it lost two River State Conference (RSC) games last week in Kentucky, ultimately stretching their losing streak to nine games dating back to early December.

Point Park was routed by Asbury University (Ky.) on Thursday night 119-80 and then lost to Alice Lloyd College (Ky.) on Saturday 104-86.

“It’s tough,” head coach Gabe Bubon said. “Anything can happen since our side of the conference is mostly having a down year.”

The Pioneers never led once throughout the RSC matchup and played catch up from the opening tipoff.

Asbury started out hot, draining two of its 16 3-pointers in the first 30 seconds of the game while holding Point Park scoreless for the first two minutes.

The Pioneers were down by 24 points at the end of the first half and shot 30 percent from the floor and just 26 percent from deep.

“We’re just not executing right now on offense or defense,” junior guard Asim Pleas said.

The Eagles then ran away on the scoreboard, starting the second half on a 6-0 run that eventually led to a 31-point Asbury lead.

The Pioneers saw themselves down by as much as 40 points midway through the second half and allowed 64 bench-points to the Eagles.

The Pioneers also tallied just nine assists on the evening while allowing Asbury to drop 27 assists on 43 field goals.

“Passing and ball movement is key to a good offense and we just didn’t do that tonight,” sophomore guard Daniel King said.

Asbury ended the game on a 17-9 run, brutally handing the Pioneers their 15th loss of the season.

King scored 22 points and senior Gavin Rajahpillay added 21 points for Point Park.

Senior forward Fousseini Konate and senior guard Rushan Roberts both scored eight points while Pleas added seven points.

The Pioneers then traveled 150 miles east of Kentucky to take on Alice Lloyd College where they found themselves in an all-too-familiar situation trailing 48-39 at the half.

The Pioneers ended the second half the same way they did the first half, getting outscored by another nine points to eventually lose by 18.

With Bubon’s extremely thin bench, Point Park has a tough time getting productivity from players that are not in the starting lineup.

“I keep telling the guys I do not want to play any minutes with just five players,” Bubon said.

The Point Park bench totaled just four points on the evening while the Eagles bench poured in 47 of their own.

Point Park ended the game shooting just 39 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line.

The Pioneers were led by Roberts who shot 7-for-8 from behind the arc to lead all scorers with 24 points.

King had 22 points and Konate scored 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Pleas also chipped in 13 points and five boards but tallied six turnovers.

Point Park looks to snap its 9-game losing streak Tuesday night when in Richmond, Ind. for a rematch against No.2-ranked Indiana University East. IU East blew out the Pioneers at home on Jan. 9, 122-85. The Pioneers host Ohio Christian this Saturday at home for senior day and the final home game of the season.