Men’s Basketball Drops Road Tilt Against Life University

MARIETTA, Ga. - The Point University men's basketball team suffered an 84-69 defeat at the hands of Life University in Marietta, GA on Thursday evening. The loss dropped the Skyhawks to 3-3 on the young season. 

Point got off to a quick start. The Skyhawks held a 13-8 lead after 4:30 of game time, aided by two early three-pointers by graduate student Kenton Steele, who came in leading the team with 16.4 points per game and a 50% mark from beyond the arc. Steele made 1.6 threes per game across the first five contests of the season, but passed that average in less than five minutes against Life.

The Skyhawks' lead grew as large as nine points when a pair of Kaden Paul layups made it 28-19 in favor of Point with just under 10 minutes to go in the opening frame, giving the senior seven first half points. He entered the contest posting 8.2 tallies per game. Another Steele triple, his third of the half, at the 5:18 mark of the period gave Point a 33-27 advantage.

However, a 12-0 Life run followed, handing the Running Eagles a 39-33 lead. They grew that lead to seven points by the end of the half, going into the locker room ahead 44-37.

Life began the second frame by claiming nine of the first 12 points, raising its lead to 53-40 after three minutes. The Running Eagles boosted their advantage to as high as 22 points with 12 minutes to play, but an 8-0 Skyhawks' run brought them back to within 14 (66-52). Four of those points were scored by freshman guard Robert Harris. The final 10 minutes belonged to Life, however, and Point would not get closer than that 14-point deficit, eventually falling by 15, 84-69.

Senior Tanner Higgins led the Skyhawks with 19 points, tying his season-best mark, which he also set on Nov. 1 against Columbia (SC). The guard came in averaging 13.6 points per game. Steele finished with 16 points, nearly matching his season average. Steele also paced the Skyhawks with a season-high 14 rebounds, marking the graduate student's first double-double of the campaign. Paul recorded a squad-best five assists after having a total of five through his first five games of the year.

Point (3-3) returns to action on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when it travels to Dalton, GA for a matchup with Dalton State.