Men's basketball sinks to Cedarville

The Point Park University men's basketball team was able to notch a win against division leader Notre Dame College earlier this season, but last Thursday the Pioneers fell to the Falcons, 91-82. Hoping to improve their performance against Cedarville University on Saturday and stay in the race for the playoffs, the Pioneers fell again, 84-67, to a barrage of 3-pointers.

"It's frustrating. We are working so hard and it just doesn't seem like we're gaining any ground," freshman guard T.J. Heatherington said.

Visiting Notre Dame, Point Park started the game on a 5-0 run, including an early 3-pointer by Heatherington. But after two missed jumpers and three turnovers by the Pioneers, the Falcons went on a 10-2 run, putting them ahead, 10-7. After a layup by junior forward Jamar Washington and a jumper by senior forward Marcus Robinson, Point Park tied the game, 11-11.

And that is as close as the Pioneers would come for the rest of the game.

Point Park trailed by 12 at one point but kept the game close despite getting out-rebounded, 27-18, and shooting 42.9 percent from the field, including 21.4 percent from 3-point range. Senior center Gerald Warrick hit a jumper with 17 seconds left to bring the Pioneers within five and Notre Dame sophomore guard Nick McCartney missed a 3 at the buzzer to keep the score at 41-36 for the half.

"We're still trying to find our identity," head coach Bob Rager said. "One game we'll have three guys play well and another we'll have two play well. We need to get all five players on the same page."

Heatherington led the Pioneers in the first half with 13 points and five boards and ended the game with 24 points and eight rebounds. Warrick pitched in 10 points in the first half and ended the game with yet another double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The first six points of the second half were back-to-back 3-pointers from the Falcons' Al Miller, but his heat check was up and he missed his third attempt in as many tries. A five-point deficit ballooned into an 11-point deficit, but Point Park was able to reduce it to a six-point deficit with five jumpers, including three 3-pointers. But even with three missed opportunities, the Falcons were able to make it a 15-point deficit with 8:29.

No matter what Point Park threw at Notre Dame, the Falcons always had a response and never trailed by more than five points in the second half. The game ended in a 91-82 loss for the Pioneers.

"We went out with the desire to win, and we played hard," Warrick said. "We were able to beat them earlier this season, but this time some of the shots didn't fall for us."

After the loss, the Pioneers were still hopeful when facing Cedarville, which was ranked 22nd in the nation. The Pioneers lost their second game in a row, 84-67, which gives them a 3-7 conference record and an overall record of 7-12.

With the home court advantage, the Pioneers opened on their first possession with a quick jumper and a 2-0 lead. The second shot by the Cedarville Yellow Jackets was a 3-pointer and Point Park did not catch sight of a lead for the rest of the game.

Three-pointers seemed to be the game's theme for the Jackets because they hit 11 of them in the first half on 52.4 percent from beyond the arch. Cedarville freshman guard Austin Foote led the way with 20 first-half points on 7-of-14 shooting, with 18 of those points coming off of 3-pointers.

After two layups and a jumper, the Pioneers were able to cut Cedarville's lead to 9-8, but then the Jackets hit four 3-point attempts in a row, and their lead grew to 11. The lead remained in the double digits for the rest of the half. The Pioneers hit 13 baskets for the half and Cedarville almost matched that number in 3-pointers alone with 11. One of those 3-point shots was at the buzzer by sophomore guard Daniel Kohavi, who gave Cedarville a 51-28 lead.

"They didn't miss in the first half," Heatherington said. "Actually, it didn't seem like they missed from the three the whole game. It was overwhelming and our defense struggled because of it."

Cedarville took another 14 attempts from the 3 in the second half but only hit five of them. The Pioneers could only cut the lead to 15 points and spent the majority of the half down by more than 20 points and even trailed by 30 on two occasions.

"We had Swiss cheese defense," Rager said. "There were holes everywhere and we didn't do a good job at contesting."

With only six games remaining in the season, the Pioneers need to jump up two places in the conference rankings to earn a spot in the playoffs. And with three away games in a row, that might be a tough feat.

"We have high hopes for the upcoming games," Warrick said. "They're very winnable for us and we can get into the playoffs."