Men's Basketball Snaps Skid with Win Over Stallions

WEST POINT, Ga. – The Point University men's basketball team ended a three-game skid with a 97-92 conference victory over visiting Abraham Baldwin Agricultural this afternoon.  The Skyhawks are now 6-7 and 2-5 in the SSAC, while the Stallions drop to 4-8 and 1-6 on the year.

ABA wasted no time getting on the board as it took an 11-4 lead to open the contest. Point responded using a 9-0 run to go in front 13-11 with 15:15 on the clock.  The Skyhawks' lead did not last long as the Stallions reclaimed the lead to go up 20-19, but a dunk from D'Andre Jefferson off a pass from Cahlib Edwards put the Point back in front 21-20. Both teams for most of the first half traded baskets with Point holding the edge as it took a 42-40 lead into the locker room.

Coming out of the locker room, Point strung together a 9-2 run to push its lead to 51-42 with under 17 minutes remaining. The Stallions attempted to keep the difference to single-digits for most of the second half, but a three-pointer from Point's Tanner Higgins pushed the lead to 62-50.  ABA chipped away to cut the lead to six to trail 65-56 with 11:45 left in the game, but it did not matter as Kenton Steele put the lead back to 10 with a jumper of his own for Point. With 8:25 remaining in the game, ABA cut the lead to four to make it 71-67, and then cut it to three to trail 72-69. Once again, both teams traded baskets only to find themselves tied at 81 with four and a half left to go, but a jumper by Edwards broke the tie to make it 83-81. The Stallions tied the game once more at 83, but Higgins answered with a jumper of his own to break the tie, and Jefferson added some insurance to push the lead to 88-83.  ABA attempted to rally late, but it was too late as Point was able to hold on and secure the win.

Point shot 54.4 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from three, and 73.7 percent from the line as a team.

The Skyhawks tallied 11 points off of nine Stallion turnovers for the game.

Steele finished with a double-double with 26 points and 11 boards while shooting 10 of 14 from the floor. Teammate Jefferson tallied 22 points of his own, going 8 of 9 from the floor and 3 of 4 from three-point range.

Higgins registered 17 points of his own, while Edwardes recorded 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Skyhawks head out on the road on Thursday, Jan 15, to face Mobile at 8:30 p.m.