Men's Basketball Comes Up Short at Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. – The Point University men's basketball team comes up short on the road in an 80-74 conference loss to the University of Mobile tonight. The Skyhawks drop to 6-8 and 2-6 in the conference, while the Rams move to 11-6 and 6-2 on the season.

Point tied the game at three, twenty-two seconds into the start, but the Rams used back-to-back threes to take a 9-3 lead. Mobile pushed it leads to 19-7 following a 10-4 run with 12:50 left in the half.  The Rams continued to add to their lead as they increased it to 29-13, but a three-pointer from Yuta Yamamoto at 6:29 started a 16-4 run for Point to make it 33-26 Rams with just over four minutes remaining. The Skyhawks cut the lead to 33-31 before going on an 8-4 run to take a 39-37 lead into halftime.

Point took a 41-37 lead to start the second half, but it did not last long as the Rams tied the game and then retook the lead off a three with just over 17 minutes left in the game. The Skyhawks kept it close for most of the half, and then both teams found themselves tied at 55. Mobile broke the tie on a 12-0 run to go up 67-55 and later pushed its lead to 71-60. Point chipped away at the lead to trail 76-74, but a 4-0 Rams run secured the 80-74 win.

The Rams controlled the glass, winning it 37 to 28 over the Skyhawks with both teams tallying double figures on the defensive side.

Point shot 44.1% from the floor, 30.4% from three, and 62.5% from the line.

Kenton Steele finished a double-double, tallying 26 points and 13 boards. He was 9 of 15 from the field.

Yamamoto finished with 12 points of his own while leading the team from three-point range, going 3 of 5. Teammate Cahlib Edwards registered 11 points and two assists.

Both Kaden Paul and Tanner Higgins each recorded eight points.

Point is back on the road on Saturday when it faces Faulkner University in conference action at 3 p.m.