Victory Wednesday was in full force for the Pirates men's basketball team, as they knocked off the Central Methodist Eagles 80-73 at home in a Heart Conference slugfest. This win snapped the Pirates brief two game losing streak and was a great response to their overtime heartbreaker against Peru State over the weekend.
This win moved the Pirates back to .500 overall on the season with a 6-6 record and improved their record in conference play to 5-3. Meanwhile, the Eagles dropped their fifth game of the season to move to 7-5, and they now possess a 4-4 conference record.
Jaden Robinson got the scoring started for the Pirates with back to back post moves that included a sweet turn around banked in basket. However, the Pirates would find themselves down 9-4 early after the Eagles got up court quickly after a couple missed Pirate shots. Park would keep it close in the opening minutes with a catch and shoot three pointer from Tristian McRoberts, heading into the first media timeout. Just a couple minutes later, Park would tie the game at fourteen apiece when McRoberts found a wide open Robinson in the paint. The game would continue to swing back and forth in a tightly contested fashion when Jasigah Barnes would get in on the action with his own shot from deep. He immediately followed it up with an assist to a wide open Jamaal Davis on a fastbreak. This tied the game at 23-23 heading into the under ten minute timeout.Â
At this point, the defenses for both sides made their presence felt and the action would move to the free throw line. Abubakar Kromah would give the Pirates their first lead of the game 28-27 with 6:11 left in the first half. Right before the end of the first half, Central Methodist tied the game up 41-41 with a thunderous dunk from Bol Tong.
The high scoring first half would reflect on the stat sheet as well. The Pirates shot 57.7% from the field in first, with the Eagles not far behind with a 51.6% field goal percentage. Both sides were also shooting over 70% from the charity stripe in the opening twenty minutes.
Park opened the second half with a steal on the inbound pass by Kromah, and the Pirates made the Eagles immediately pay with Barnes' second three point make. The highlight of the game happened moments later when Barnes threw an alley oop to Robinson who flushed it down. Park would continue to stretch their lead to 54-44, which proved to be their largest lead of the night. Coming out of the media timeout, the Eagles would go on a run of their own that was capped off with an ankle breaking spin move by Kevin James to cut the lead to 60-56 with ten minutes to go. The game would come down to the final few possessions, but Park was able to manage against the press defense, and they secured the seven point win.Â
The big separator in this game came down to points off turnovers. Park picked up seventeen points in this area compared to just five for the Eagles. This was also reflected in the fast break points, where the Pirates outscored the Eagles on the break twelve points to eight. The turnover margin was not significant, with Park committing thirteen compared to the Eagles fifteen, but the Pirates made the Eagles pay for their mistakes.Â
Park would shoot well for the entirety of the game, finishing with a 54.4 field goal percentage. They also shot 33.3% from three point range and 61.9% from the free throw line.Â
Kromah, Robinson, Barnes, and McRoberts all scored double digit points with Kromah and Robinson being tied for the team lead with nineteen points each.Â
Kromah had a great all around game, collecting eight total rebounds and getting to the line consistently with fifteen free throw attempts.Â
The Pirates will play their final game of the fall semester this Saturday at home in Breckon Sports Center. Tip-off against the Culver-Stockton College Wildcats is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Watch Here
Box Score
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