While most students at Point Park spent their winter breaks away from campus or with their family and friends, the men’s basketball team was hard at work as soon as break started.

The Pioneers played at West Virginia Tech University (WVU Tech) the first day after finals had finished, losing to the hands of the Golden Bears with a score of 95-77.

The men started off slow, with the team not scoring a basket until three minutes into the game, already going down by seven.

The Pioneers shot less than 50-percent from the field and barely above 25-percent from 3-point range.

WVU Tech came out firing, scoring 47 points in the first half, hitting seven of 12 threes. The Golden Bears would stay ahead for the rest of the game, with WVU Tech leading by as much as 30 points in the second half.

Junior guard Mark Shehady led the way for the Pioneers off the bench with 12 points and five assists.

Throughout the entire game, the team shot just 58-percent from the field and 38-percent from beyond the arc.

The men bounced back three days later on December 17, defeating the University of Rio Grande at home, 84-63.

Junior Adam Scott led the way in scoring with 18 points, shooting 7-for-7 from the field on only 16 minutes of play off the bench.

Freshman Kameron Shockley dropped 16 points, only missing a single shot from 3-point range while going 6-for-7 from the field, with a game-high nine rebounds as well.

Point Park kept Rio Grande under 50-percent from the field in the first half, letting them only hit four of 13 3-point shots.

“It was a must win for us,” Shockley said. “My mentality for the game was to do whatever helped the team win. I’m going to keep playing any role the team needs me to play that night to come out with a win.”

Point Park trailed for only one minute, and did not give up the lead for the rest of the game, leading by as much as 24.

The Pioneers faced off against Buffalo and Stratton-Buffalo three days before Christmas, and was gifted a lump of coal this year. The Bobcats dropped 100 points on the Pioneers, losing 100-82 in Buffalo.

Bryant and Stratton was unstoppable from the field, shooting over 60-percent from beyond the arc and scoring 57 points in the second half.

Four different Point Park players scored double-digits, but shot just barely above 25-percent from beyond the arc.

To start off the new year, Point Park came out firing, blowing out Penn State-New Kensington at home, 84-62.

The Pioneers dropped 42 points in a first half routing of the Lions, doubling the opponents rebounds and going on a run, scoring ten unanswered points.

Junior forward, Garrett McHenry, led the way in scoring, putting up a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds.

12 different players, both starters and players off the bench, averaged 13 minutes or more in the dismantling.

The men lost a messy one to the hands of No.12-ranked Washington Adventist University (WAU) 72-66 on WAU’s home court on January 5.

Both teams were cold from the field, especially during the second half of the contest.

Point Park shot just 39-percent from the field and 13-percent from three.

The “Shock” hit 43-percent, but shot just 5-percent from behind the arc.

In a game where the two teams couldn’t muster a single point off turnovers, and combined for 44 fouls, there was a bright spot in Scott. He led the team in scoring and rebounding as a starter, scoring 25 points and bringing down six boards in the contest.

The Pioneers currently hold a 2-1 conference record this season, alongside an undefeated home record of 6-0. With a forfeit win from Cincinnati Christian University, the Pioneers’ next game will be Thursday, Jan. 9 at Midway University in Midway, Kentucky.

Their next home game is against Indiana University East on Jan. 14 at CCAC-Allegheny.

“We have all but one conference game,” Shockley said. “Our goal right now is to win every league game and make the playoffs. Then the national tournament. That’s been our goal all year.”