No. 21 Point Park powers past St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) to gain top spot in RSC

PITTSBURGH -- No. 21 Point Park University used a big second half to power past St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) College, 77-70, in a River States Conference men's basketball game on Thursday night from CCAC-Allegheny.

The Pioneers improved to 19-1 overall and 8-1 RSC while handing SMWC (14-5, 8-1 RSC) its first conference defeat. In a matchup of RSC East and West division leaders, Point Park took over the top spot in the conference overall with the win. 

Point Park is leading the RSC East with its earlier win over Shawnee State (Ohio) (14-5, 8-1 RSC), a team that is charging hard at 10-1 since losing at Point Park on Dec. 2. The Bears just beat IU Kokomo on Thursday night, 75-58, with IU Kokomo coming to Point Park on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff. 

Jalen Stamps scored 20 points and dished seven assists for Point Park. Playing all 40 minutes, he made 7 of 15 from the field and connected on two treys. Jo Valrie scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He came alive in the second half for 17 points. 

Jamisen Smith added 18 points and like Valrie knocked down three 3-pointers. Jags Jhawar was a key in many ways with six points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Nazareth Fisher did similar work off the bench with seven points, five boards and two blocks. 

Point Park trailed SMWC, 36-29, at halftime. Point Park shot just 35 percent and was losing the rebounding battle, 30-14, the first 20 minutes. The Pioneers trailed by as many as 20-11 at the 8:05 mark before getting a little closer. An alley-oop dunk from Stamps to Fisher at the buzzer gave Point Park some momentum going into the break. 

Then the Pioneers outscored the Pomeroys, 48-34, the rest of the way while holding them to 15-for-41 shooting (36 percent) and leading the boards, 26-17, the second half. The Pioneers blocked nine shots on the night to add to the defense and cleared key rebounds late the game to seal the win. 

Point Park's big second half included 55 percent shooting from the floor (17 for 31) and 5 for 10 from the arc. 

The Pioneers opened the second half on a 15-6 run. After a few baskets by Valrie to get things going, Stamps drilled a 3-pointer for a 44-42 lead. Valrie later converted a 4-point play for a 50-44 lead. 

SMWC leading scorer Cobie Barnes pulled the Pomeroys to a 56-55 lead at the under-10 media timeout thanks to a 3-pointer. But the Pioneers responded with a 10-2 run and a 65-58 lead after a couple of drives by Stamps and Smith. That was with 6:06 remaining.

The Pomeroys were within 65-62 at the under-5 media timeout. Point Park again had a run with defensive stops, Smith and Stamps fueling that one. With Jhawar and Valrie clearing defensive rebounds and Jhawar throwing in a blocked shot, that led to Smith scoring on a couple of layups and Stamps hitting a trey in between. With all of that, the Pioneers had their biggest lead of the night a 74-64 with just 3:15 left. 

SMWC got as close as 74-70, but the Pioneers made their free throws at the end to ice it. Point Park was 9 for 11 the second half after going just 1 for 6 the first half. 

Barnes got just below his average of 22.5 ppg for the Pomeroys. He was 9 for 27 on the night. Greg Jenkins came up wit 19 points, Chaz Birchfield registered a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, DaMeriz Merriweather had 11 off the bench and 6-9 center Shon Tupula had 16 big rebounds.