Fousseini Konate posted a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds at #11 IU East. Photo by Sam Robinson.
Box Score
RICHMOND, Ind. -- No. 11-ranked IU East rode a big first half to take control on its way to a 102-79 victory over visiting Point Park University in a River States Conference men's basketball game Friday night.
IU East (15-5, 6-1 RSC) got out to a 19-point lead of 49-30 at the half before going on to win the game by 23 points. Point Park (6-10, 4-3 RSC) put up 49 points the second half but could not overcome the first 20 minutes, which saw the Pioneers shoot 27 percent from the field (10 for 37).
Point Park's Art Christian led all scorers with 21 points. The senior from Cleveland, Ohio, came off the bench with a strong shooting night of 6 of 9 overall, 5 for 8 from long range and 4 for 4 from the foul line. He scored 15 points the first half to account for half of the Pioneers' points to that point.
Fousseini Konate had another double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds for Point Park. He made 7 of 11 field goals on the night and put up 15 points the second half to match Christian's output from the first half.
Other top performers for Point Park were the starting backcourt of Gavin Rajahpillay (17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) and Rushan Roberts (11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists).
IU East had a strong game all around and had contributions from everywhere. The Red Wolves had seven players score double figures with four of those coming off the bench. Kyle Pipenger and Charles Peterson led the way with 16 and 15 points, respectively, and each made four treys.
Point Park was holding a 12-7 lead at the 13:41 mark, but then IU East reeled off a 20-3 run. The run included four treys, the final one of which was by Pipenger for a 27-15 lead with 7:10 left in the first half.
The offense kept coming for the Red Wolves after halftime as they shot 53 percent the rest of the way and made another eight treys. IU East made 15 3-pointers on the night. Point Park did not help itself in cutting into the lead with 13 of its 19 turnovers coming the second half.
Point Park gets right back into action for another RSC road game Saturday at Ohio Christian. Tipoff is 3 p.m. in Circleville, Ohio. Watch live on Stretch Internet with live video streaming from OCU here: portal.stretchinternet.com/RSC.
