Skyhawks soar past Reinhardt in home AAC matchup
WEST POINT, Ga. (Nov. 22, 2022) - The Point University men's basketball team returned to action Tuesday evening for their Appalachian Athletic Conference home contest against Reinhardt University and came away victorious with a 78-61 score.
The Eagles of Reinhardt University came out hot showing the three-ball skills early with threes coming each of their first three times down the court for the early 9-3 lead. After back-to-back layups from Jack Gray and Javier Turner, the Skyhawks got back within two at 9-7. After a couple of miss opportunities by both teams, the game held steady at 11-11 for two minutes of play. At the 12:35 mark in the first half, Gentrell Taylor checked in for the first time this season and he made the most of his opportunity. The game seemed to make a switch when Taylor would assist Javier Turner on a big-time dunk to give the Skyhawks at 15-13 lead. The Eagles would spur a 6-0 run, until Gentrell Taylor would make a layup, assist Jake Smith to keep it a one score lead for the Eagles. After a defensive rebound from Jake Smith, Gentrell Taylor would find himself in place to put the Skyhawks up 22-19 at the 7:59 mark in the first half after his made shot. Reinhardt would take a full timeout with 4:30 left to play in the first half, right after a three-pointer from RJ Selman, assist by Benjamin Ross was good to make it a seven-point lead for the Skyhawks at 30-23. Jack Gray would get his jumper to go, assist by Jake Smith and that would put the score at 34-28 with 2:05 left in the first half. Jack Smith had the hot hand when RJ Selman found him beyond the arch for a three-pointer to put Point up 37-28 with 1:17 left in the first half. The half would end with a steal by Gentrell Taylor, who would pass it down the lane to Javier Turner, who would get the basket and the foul. Javier Turner would complete the and one with his made free throw sending the Skyhawks to the locker room with a ten-point lead at 40-30.
The Skyhawks looked to keep it rolling in the second half when Benjamin Ross would get two quick rebounds and a layup to extend the lead to 42-30. Point would slowly see their twelve-point lead evaporate over the next eight minutes, as the Eagles would go on a 12-2 run and comeback to make it 44-44 at 11:40 to play in the game. Once the Eagles took the lead, the Skyhawks would get a boost from Gentrell Taylor again, when he would put back his missed shot to cut the Eagles lead to 51-49. The game would go back and forth until Benjamin Ross would lay it off the glass for two to make it 56-54, Eagles. Point would call a full timeout to set their defense up at the 6:47 mark and this would prove to be a good timeout. On the next Eagles possession, Benjamin Ross would come up with a steal and would find Jack Gray who was cutting through the lane to tie the game up at 56-56 with 6:20 left. Gentrell Taylor would come up with another steal and would push the basketball over to Jake Smith, who would find Benjamin Ross for the layup to make it 60-56 at 4:30 remaining on the clock. RJ Selman would find Jack Gray, who would nail the jumper to extend the lead to 62-56. RJ Selman would be fouled with just over two minutes remaining and would make both shots from the charity stripe, to give the Skyhawks the eleven-point lead at 69-58. Jake Smith would ensure that the Skyhawks would stay up by eleven, when he would hit his jumper, assist Benjamin Ross. Desperation time for Reinhardt, down by ten, as they would foul Benjamin Ross and send him to the line to shoot two. Ross would sink both of his shots, making it 73-61 with 1:00 left on the scoreboard. Jake Smith would add to the scoring party off his steal, when he would slam it home to go up 75-61 with 48 seconds remaining. The Skyhawks would have a player fouled again, as Gentrell Taylor would head to the line. Taylor would see both of his shots go in and would get appreciation from the crowd and teammates as he was subbed with the score at 77-61 with 34 seconds left on the clock. Gentrell Taylor in his first time on the court this season, would bring home 11 points off the bench for the Skyhawks. After the defensive rebound from Theaplais Williams, he would be sent to the line to shoot two from the line. Williams would go 1-2 at the line to make it 78-61. After a missed shot from the Eagles, the Skyhawks would take the victory 78-61.This victory now moves the Skyhawks to 4-5 overall and 4-3 in conference going into the Thanksgiving break.
In the box
Jack Gray led all Skyhawks in scoring with his 17 points, while also adding an assist. Four Skyhawks were in double figures in the contest with RJ Selman (14 points), Benjamin Ross (14 points), Jake Smith (12 points) and Gentrell Taylor (11 points).
The Skyhawks shot 46% (29-63) from the floor, 33.3% (4-12) from three-point land and 76.2.% (16-21) at the charity stripe.
Up next
The Skyhawks will return to action for an away AAC matchup against Tennessee Wesleyan University on Wednesday, Nov. 30, starting at 7:30 P.M.