Point Park men’s basketball was on the road this last week and came back home victorious in a pivotal part of the season. Last Saturday the Pioneers lost to the IU Kokomo Cougars in an ugly loss of 69-84, but they certainly answered the bell in their next two games.
On Tuesday the boys faced off against the 10-12 Ohio Christian Trailblazers. Despite this record, the Trailblazers made it a nail bitter at the end. Throughout the first half, both teams went back and forth trying to gain a lead on the scoreboard. The Pioneer’s largest lead in the first half was by eight points, being 14-6 at the 15 minute mark. Trailblazer leading scorer Elisha Moore played a fantastic game and got his team back in the fight hitting a clutch three pointer to cut the deficit down to five. Ohio Christian would build off of this. At the end of the first half the score was tied up 34-34.
A pivotal point of the game came at the 4:39 mark with the score tied 60-60. Point Park’s standout player Jalen Stamps hit a big three-pointer. This was followed by a slam dunk from 6’10 Nazareth Fisher, which ended in a technical foul for the Pioneers. Up 65-60, the Trailblazer Devon Miller made a jump shot tying the game 65-65. With two minutes left, Elisha Moore hit a clutch three point shot to get his Trailblazers a 68-66 point lead. The Pioneers refused to back down, and they made the next three baskets. Jo Valrie, the last of these baskets, hit a three point shot with six seconds to go, placing the Pioneers up by five. The final score was 75-72 Pioneers, and they advanced to 9-2 in the River States Conference (RSC).
On Saturday the boys faced a team trying to catch them in the standings, as the WVU Tech Golden Bears tried to make up some ground in the tight race to win the RSC. The Golden Bears came into the game 8-3 in the RSC and an overall record of 15-5. A key to their game is their ability to make shots at a very high rate, as they have three of the top five players in field goal percentage in the conference. That may be nice for them but unfortunately they don’t have Jo Valrie, who went off in this matchup.
The Pioneers opened up the floodgates early. Within seven minutes of the game, they were up 15-8. However, before they knew it the Pioneers found themselves down 20-22 as Braden Chapman hit a three point shot. Chapman had 17 points in the game and tied with his teammate Thomas Hailey when it came to leading in the scoring department. As the first half went on, the Pioneers got hot and finished the half up 49-32.
It was difficult for the Golden Bears to make up any ground in this game considering they had no one to stop Joe Valrie, who put up a team-leading 29 points. Jalen Stamps followed close behind him with 28 points. A key area where the Pioneers dominated was second chance points where the Pioneers had 20 and the Golden Bears had only six. Going off that, the Pioneers had 14 offensive rebounds. They controlled the paint, which led to an impressive 90-74 victory and a Pioneer team that still stands at the top of the RSC.
The Pioneers will look to see if they can climb up the national rankings, as they currently sit at the number 22 spot. This week they will welcome Rio Grande on Tuesday and will travel to Shawnee State. Both teams have a 10-2 conference record, making for a great competitive match up.
