Strong start by Skyhawks, not enough against undefeated Union

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 19, 2022) - The Point University men's basketball team returned to action Saturday evening for their Appalachian Athletic Conference away contest against the undefeated Union College Bulldogs and they fell 73-66.

The Union Bulldogs got the scoring started early, as they came out of the gates with a 12-4 lead in the first six minutes of the contest. After the timeout from Point, the Skyhawks would get a steal by Jack Gray, who would pass it to RJ Selman for the quick layup to get the lead cut in half. Another a timeout taken by Point at the 11:38 mark we would see a jump shot by RJ Selman to cut it to 16-12 in favor of the Bulldogs. As the Skyhawks down two possessions with under nine minutes left, Selman would make his way to the rack and make it a two-point game at 16-14. A steal and a breakaway layup from Selman would tie the ball game up at 16 a piece with eight minutes. A three-pointer by the Bulldogs would make it a 23-16 lead.  Off the miss free throw by Union, Sellman would get the rebound and take it up court. RJ Selman would get foul while driving to the hole and find himself at the charity stripe. Sellman would connect on both free throws to make it 23-20. Jake Smith with a dunk, who was just lurking around the basket would make it a one-point game at 23-22. On the next possession, Benjamin Ross would get to the line to shoot two and both baskets are good to take the lead on the road at 24-22. With three minutes left to play in the half, Javier Turner on the spin move would lay it up for two points to push the Skyhawks lead to 26-23. Benjamin Ross right-handed floater would make it 28-23. The back door cutting Rees would score on the next possession to make it 30-25. As the Skyhawks look to take advantage of the cold shooting Bulldogs, Ross would get his shot off and good to make it 32-25 game with under twenty-five seconds left. After a deep three attempt miss from Union, both teams would head to the locker room with Point up 32-25. RJ Sellman led all Skyhawks in scoring with 10 points in the first half.

The Skyhawks would look to hold on to their lead coming in the second half of play. The start of the second half would see Union get to the free throw line early to move the game to 32-27. The Bulldogs would capitalize on a charge with a quick layup that would make it 32-29. Jake Smith would counter with a layup off a Euro step to make it 34-29 in favor of the Skyhawks. After the Bulldogs tied the game at 34-34, the Skyhawks would take a timeout with 16:59 left in the game. After an alley-op dunk by Union, the Skyhawks would see Javier Turner drive through the lane for two and get to the free throw line, where he would make his only attempt to make it at 39-37 game. Benjamin Ross would bring the Skyhawks back in front by one on a layup with an assist by Jake Smith with the game now at 46-45. The Skyhawks would see Jack Gray make a layup, assist by Javier Turner to make it 48-45. Javier Turner would find himself shooting a jump shot at top of the paint to make it a 50-45 game. The court general, Jake Smith found his way to the basket to make it a 52-47 game for the Skyhawks. A foul from the three-point arch on Union's Markelle Turner would send him to the line to shoot three from the charity stripe. Union's Turner would go 2 for 3 and will get the Bulldogs within one point game. RJ Selman would respond with a three pointer of his own, but it was quickly matched by Union's Deonte Douglas to make it 55-54 Skyhawks. On the next Skyhawks possession, RJ Selman would find himself nailing both shots at the line, to give the Skyhawks the three-point lead at the 8:09 mark. The Union Bulldogs would rally back on a few big shots to take a 61-57 lead but would take a timeout after fouling Skyhawk's Benjamin Ross up 61-57 before his free throw attempts. Ross would make both free throws to make it a one possession game at 61-59. Benjamin Ross would get fouled again, on a defensive rebound. He would respond with both free throws made to tie the game at 61-61 with 6:19 left. After a defensive rebound by Javier Turner and down by two, Point would take a full time out with 4:05 left to play in the game. With Jake Smith fouling out on a jumper by Union, would see Sam Rees checking into the game. Three-ball from Anton Mazga of Union would make it a 67-61 game with 3:12 left in the game. Union's Deonte Douglas would make the fade away jumper to push the Bulldogs lead to 69-61 with 1:34 left on the clock. RJ Selman would find himself at the line shooting two and would go 1 for 2 to make the score 69-62. After a layup by Benjamin Ross, the Skyhawks would be down by five 69-64. After a basket from Union, Benjamin Ross would make another layup and keep it a five-point game at 71-66. After a foul that would send Union's Anton Mozga to the line to shoot two. Mozga would make both to secure the Bulldog victory at 73-66. The win for Union, would move them to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in conference to start their season. Point would move to 3-5 on the overall and 3-3 in the conference.

In the box 

RJ Selman lead all Skyhawks in scoring with his 19 points coming off the bench tonight, while also adding four rebounds, four assists, and going 6-8 at the charity stripe. Two other Skyhawks had double digits with Benjamin Ross (18 points) and Jake Smith (10 points). Javier Turner would bring in 14 rebounds in the contest.

The Skyhawks shot 46.3% (25 of 54) from the floor, 16.7% (1 of 6) from three-point land and 15 of 19% (15 of 19) at the charity stripe.

Up next 

The Skyhawks will return to action for a home AAC matchup against Reinhardt on Tuesday, Nov. 22, starting at 7:30 P.M.