On a road trip to Indianapolis and Kentucky last weekend, the men’s basketball team dropped two conference games but are still sitting in third place in the River States Conference (RSC) standings.

The action tipped off against Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky. last Thursday. The Pioneers made it a competitive contest through the first half, but Brescia pulled it away in the second half to secure a 74-51 victory.

On the night, Point Park shot 27 percent with sophomore guard Kyle Carrington and senior Asim Pleas both leading the team in scoring with 14 points. 10 of Carrington’s points came just in the first half.

Brescia secured a lead three minutes into the game and never lost. Through the first half, Point Park went on numerous runs hacking away at the deficit but fell short. With 13 minutes left in the first half, the Pioneers were trailing by one and went into halftime trailing 26-21.

After shooting 11-for-31 in the first half, Brescia stepped their offense up and shot 19-for-35 in the second. Both teams struggled from behind the arc with Brescia going 5-14 and the Pioneers shooting 4-28 from three point range.

Two days later the team was back in action against the 23rd ranked school in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indiana University (IU) Southeast.

The offensive struggles resumed as the Pioneers were blown out 101-73 Saturday night.

At 16:30, Point Park took their first and only lead  7-5  after a 2-pointer from junior forward Cortez Allen. Following the basket from Allen, IU Southeast went on a 19 point run and lead the Pioneers 24-7 at 11:17.

Through the first half, Point Park struggled securing the ball and tallied 14 turnovers in the first half alone. After the 19-point run, Point Park chipped away at the deficit but ended the first half trailing 66-33.

For much of the second half, Point Park held on to a 30 point deficit, but significantly improved their three point shooting from Thursday night and ended  the game shooting 11-31.

Senior guard Daniel King lead Point Park in scoring after shooting 5-10 for three and 6-11 for the night.

Despite the loss, Point Park is still in third place in the RSC behind West Virginia Tech and IU Southeast. The Pioneers conference record dropped to 3-7 after last weekend and are just one win ahead of fourth place Rio Grande.

The Pioneers will continue conference play this week with two home matchups Thursday and Saturday. Thursday versus Asbury University and Saturday against Alice Lloyd University.