The Point Park men’s basketball team won five of its first six games of the season, however, a recent five game losing skid and now after a win, they find themselves with six wins and six losses.
“That losing streak was tough, those losses got us in a deep hole that was hard for us to get out of,” junior guard Gabe McNeal said. “We were losing confidence.”
Like all Point Park teams this season, the men dealt with the transition to the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and were predicted to finish seventh of nine teams. The men are led by Head Coach Bob Rager who currently is in his 24th season at his alma mater. Rager leads a run-and-gun style offense, where the scoring is high and as the name suggests, the pace of play is fast. The team is second in the entire NAIA in scoring at 92.19 points a game but are 127th in overall defense with the 91.83 points a game that they allow.
The season started with two wins at a tournament in Amherst, New York before facing Lake Erie, 11 days later and losing 95-79. Thus far in the season, the Pioneers have had their troubles coming back from extended breaks.
Their next game has been the highlight of their season. It was a non-conference win against St. Francis. Point Park found themselves down by three at halftime; however with 10:46 left in regulation, the Pioneers were down 14 points. Unfazed, they came back and forced the game into overtime. There they would finish what they started and win 107-97. In the game, senior forward Josh Arnold had a career high 31 points and freshman guard Matt Noszka also had a career high 26 points of his own.
Point Park would get two more wins, a rout of Penn State Fayette and a 118-83 victory in their first ever conference matchup as KIAC members, but their losing streak would start against the top ranked West Liberty team. In the game, the two top scoring offense met up and Point Park fell short 136-84 and played without two of their players who were suspended.
“It felt good to get off to such a good start, but I think we became satisfied rather than excelling and stepping up our level of play,” senior guard Asa Braxton said. “So in a sense it might have hurt us a little.”
Following the loss, Point Park lost again this time to then 11th ranked and KIAC foe Indiana University Southeast 96-91. The next day they lost a 94-93 game in overtime to another KIAC opponent in Brescia. The team came back from deficits of 21-6 in eight minutes and 44-27 at the half, but still fell just short.
Things would go from bad to worse when after a 16 day break from competition, the Pioneers would establish a season low in a 91-72 loss to Asbury. All of a sudden it seemed as though the team could not find itself in the winner’s circle.
“I believe we got too comfortable,” Braxton said. “We were taking way too long to give 100% in games. Next thing you know, it seemed like we forgot how to win. It was extremely frustrating.”
Following another 12 day break, the Pioneers came out flat in their rematch against Indiana University Southeast and after just a little over two minutes into the game, they already found themselves down 10-0. The team would never recover and ended up losing 108-75.
“I was a little frustrated,” McNeal said. I know what our team is capable of doing and how well we can play.”
The loss marked a first as it was their first time all season with a losing record.
The team would get back to .500 the next day with an important 97-84 win over Brescia. The team came out stronger and with 12:33 left in the first half had an 11 point lead. Despite a Brescia comeback that tied the score midway through the second half, the team stayed strong and played together to pull away and get the victory.
“It was very crucial,” Braxton said of the win. “We had to remember what winning felt like to get our swag back, but at the same time we know we have a lot of making up to do.”
Now back on the winning side of things, the team travels to Kentucky to play Alice Lloyd and Asbury and winning both and starting another streak is important to McNeal.
“That Kentucky trip is extremely important,” McNeal said. “We don’t want to dig ourselves in another hole. We don’t want to go backwards, we’re moving forward. Now that we’ve got that winning taste and know what it’s like to win, I believe our team is hungry. We are going to shock a lot of people.”
Photo Credit: Evan Skowvron
