The men’s basketball team went 1-1 this week in their home matchups against River State Conference (RSC) rivals Indiana University Kokomo (IUK) on Thursday, Jan. 20 and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) on Saturday, Jan. 22. The Pioneers fell to IUK 83-80, and defeated the Pomeroys 79-55. The win and loss now lands Point Park at 9-9 on the season, breaking .500, while sitting at 4-6 in RSC play. They currently sit in fourth place in the RSC East division, while being 4.5 games out of first, and half a game out of third.

Game one was a hard-fought game for the Pioneers, with the team coming back from a 14 point deficit, but still falling short in the end. The Cougars would hit the first basket of the game, give up the tying two-pointer, and then would hold the lead for the rest of the contest. They led by as much as the aforementioned 14 points half way through the first half thanks to a streak of five straight buckets. The Pioneers scratched their way back to within eight as the first half ended with the score at 47-39. The second half was a back and forth battle between the two sides, as Point Park stormed back and brought the game within one multiple times, but the Cougars would come back with an answer almost immediately afterwards. The Pioneers ended up just barely falling after a missed three with five seconds left to end the game at 83-80.

Both teams had an incredible shooting night as a whole, with the Pioneers knocking down 52% of the shots from the floor, while also nailing 54% of their shots from beyond the three point line in an extremely efficient performance for the boys in green and gold. IUK responded to the call though, making 54% of their shots while also hitting on 50% of their three’s in the tightly contested game. Junior guard Eddie Flohr would lead the way in scoring for the Pioneers, dropping 27 points off the bench as well as a team high 5 assists. Senior guard ​​Jesse Calloway would be right behind him with 23, and senior guard Sherron Schifino finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points while also pulling down 11 rebounds in the contest.

Game two was a different story for the Pioneers, with the team picking up their first win since January 6. The Pomeroys made the game a contest to start, leading for the first 14 minutes of the first half, before Point Park found its footing and started their comeback. The Pioneers started to get their defense and offense back in the flow and put together a good string of plays to put them ahead 38-30 at halftime. From the start of the second half, the Pioneers came out and dominated the court, jumping out quickly to a 20 point lead half way through the second half and finally breaking out against SMWC. Point Park would dominate all the way up until the final horn, ending the game at 79-55.

Point Park had another solid shooting day throughout the game, hitting on 45% of their shots while also knocking down 30% of their shots from downtown. SWMC would be smothered by the Pioneers’ defense, leading to only making 37% of their shots, and only 16% of their treys. Senior guard Sherron Schifino was electric in the contest, scoring 28 points while also nailing six threes to help lead the way in scoring. Sophomore guard Nate Van would be right behind him with 15 points and 3 assists. Junior forward Jordan Stowe would also help with a double-double, bringing in 10 boards to match his 10 points, as well as 4 steals.

The Pioneers will be on the road in their next two match ups to end the month of January, with a visit to Indiana University Southeast on Friday, Jan. 28, in New Albany, Indiana, for an in-conference matchup. Point Park will then head south to Midway, Kentucky, to face Midway University in another RSC contest on Sunday, Jan. 30. Both games will be streamable through their respective sites, which you can access on the Point Park Athletics website.