Concord made a late push in an attempted comeback against Point Park on Saturday afternoon, but the Pioneers were able to hold on and take a 82-76 victory on the road.
“Concord is a good team that has unfortunately had to deal with a ton of injuries so we knew they wouldn’t just roll over and we’d have to go earn a win,” head coach Ryan Grandits said following the game. “It was good to see us build up a lead and then have them come back and still find a way to make enough plays to win a game, which I don’t know if we would have done earlier in the year. We’ve gotten a lot tougher as the year has progressed and it helped us win this one.”
The Pioneers held the lead over the Mountain Lions for the majority of the game, but a series of made free throws by Concord put the score at 73-73 with 1:42 remaining in the second half.
Ultimately, Point Park was able to pull away with the lead shortly after that and secure the win.
When talking about what the strategy was as Concord made that late push, guard Kaden Warner said, “Just staying focused, we understand that basketball is a game of runs and we just had to withstand it and stay connected. In late game situations, we’ve been over the right things to do and how to stay calm and make the right plays when it counts.”
The Pioneers got another outstanding performance from senior guard Aidan Anderson, who posted a new career high for points in a single game with 34.
“Aidan was really aggressive from the jump,” Grandits said. “We talked about not holding or dancing with the ball before the game, and he did a great job of being very decisive whenever he caught it. He made a ton of shots early, and they did a good job on the second half trying to limit him, which in turn led to him doing a great job of not forcing anything and trusting his teammates. We had other guys step up in the second half because of that.”
Saturday’s game marked the fourth time this season that Anderson set a new career high for points in a single game.
“I think just trusting on my work and going into the game prepared helps a lot,” Anderson said when speaking about what has worked well for him this season. “The coaching staff does a great job helping us prepare to go against the teams we play, and we can go out there and compete. Also, my teammates just do a fantastic job in creating opportunities not just for myself but for somebody else, which opens the floor a lot.”
Anderson went 12-20 from the field, and 5-6 from behind the three point line. He was also successful with his free throws, making all five shots he took.
As a team, Point Park shot 42.7% from the field and 87.5% from the free-throw line.
Warner and Greg Williams also had strong offensive outings for the Pioneers, with Warner posting 18 points, and Williams 17.
Point Park has won four of its last five games and improved to 5-10 against conference opponents as a result of Saturday’s win.
The Pioneers return home to CCAC-Allegheny Gym tonight to take on West Virginia State for their second meeting of the season. Point Park previously defeated the Yellowjackets 93-87 on Jan. 10.
Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
