Men's basketball holds off Royals for road AAC victory
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (February 4, 2023) – The Point University men's basketball team went on the road for AAC conference matchup against Johnson University (Tenn) and came out victorious 74-72.
The Skyhawks got the scoring started at the 19:17 mark with Javier Turner would see his jump shot go to make it 2-0. The Royals went on an 8-0 run finishing it with two made free throws at the 16:07 mark to make it 8-2. Jack Gray made one of his free throws and brought the Skyhawks back within five-points. A 6-0 run for the Skyhawks would make it a tie ballgame at 18-18 at the 8:24 mark after a made jump shot from Jack Gray. Jake Smith would give the Skyhawks a 24-22 lead after he made his jump shot and would force the Royals to take a 30 second timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Royals would go on a 6-0 run with two three-pointers to retake the lead at 28-24. The Skyhawks would go on an 8-0 run with the last two points coming off a Jake Smith layup with the score 32-28. Sam Rees and Kenton Steele would both make shots to add to the Skyhawks lead and send the team to the locker room up 36-30.
The Royals would have a dunk to start the scoring in the second half to make it 36-32. Benjamin Ross would quickly respond with a made jump shot to bring back a six-point lead for the Skyhawks. Sam Rees would hit a three-pointer to go up 43-35 and the Royals would take another 30 second timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Benjamin Ross would get a steal and pass it up to Justice Hayes for a layup. The Skyhawks would take a 45-25 lead at the 15:44 mark. Justice Hayes would make a three-pointer the old fashion way, when he would get fouled and connect on his free throw after his made layup to give the Skyhawks a 48-38 lead. Hayes would be found wide open by Jake Smith from three-point land to make it 54-43 at the 12:37 mark. The Royals would go on a 6-0 run to get within five points at 57-52. After a made jump shot by Kenton Steele, the Skyhawks would 64 with 2:59take a full timeout up 61-54. The Skyhawks would go on an 8-0 run to take a ten-point lead at 69-59 with 5:18 left to play. Benjamin Ross would get the old fashion three-pointer and maintain the Skyhawks lead at 72-64 with 2:59 left to play. After a full timeout from the Skyhawks, they would see their lead evaporate after an 8-0 run by the Royals to make it a tie game at 72-72. After another full timeout by the Skyhawks, Jake Smith would find Sam Rees open for the eventual game winning jump shot to give the Skyhawks a 74-72 lead with four seconds remaining. The Royals would call a full timeout after the made Rees jump shot. After the timeout, Royals would get a three-pointer off, but this time the Skyhawks escape on the road after the missed shot with a score of 74-72.
In the box
Justice Hayes led all Skyhawks in scoring with 18 points, while adding four rebounds, one assist and a steal. Three other Skyhawk players also ended up in double digits with Benjamin Ross (13 points), Kenton Steele (12 points) and Sam Rees (11 points).
Up next
The Skyhawks will return to action on Friday, February 9 for an away AAC matchup at St. Andrew's at 7:00 P.M.