POINT PARK GAME NOTES (PDF) I TV: ESPN3 I AUDIO: PPSN I LIVE STATS
HEAD COACH JOE LEWANDOWSKI PRE-GAME
PITTSBURGH -- Point Park University men's basketball has picked up another NCAA Division I matchup. And this time, the Pioneers will not have to go very far. They won't even have to stray too far from their original game schedule.
In a rescheduling of a meeting that was originally planned for Nov. 25, Point Park will now play at Robert Morris University on Saturday, Dec. 5. Tipoff at the UPMC Events Center will be 6:00 p.m.
Point Park was scheduled to be the home opener for the Colonials last month on the first allowable play date for NCAA Division I. COVID-19 precautions got in the way of those plans, but late Thursday afternoon a new date became official thanks to an opening on both team's schedules.
The Pioneers' River States Conference games have been postponed in the month of December, thus the availability for Point Park (0-2). Robert Morris (0-0) has yet to play a game and will have the Pioneers as their season and home opener after all. The Colonials had been scheduled to play at St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday.
For Point Park, it will be the second NCAA Division I opponent in a row and the second one this week. The Pioneers went to Kent State on Wednesday night and lost, 90-41.
"We are excited and appreciative of the opportunity to play RMU," said Point Park head coach Joe Lewandowski. "They've been one of the premier teams in their league and across the country for several years. Last year they were an NCAA tourney team, so to play them is tremendous.
"I give Andrew Toole a lot of respect as an ambassador for local basketball. They could play anyone in the country, and they chose to play us and support the local basketball community. It means a lot to us."
"When the opportunity arose to add a non-conference game to our schedule and open the season with a home game at the UPMC Events Center, as a staff we wanted to take advantage," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach Andrew Toole said. "As challenging as the year 2020 has been, having the chance to prepare our student-athletes for competition allows for a sense of normalcy. We're excited to go out on the court and compete."
Robert Morris was 20-14 last year, the fifth time in 10 years under head coach Andrew Toole the Colonials reached the 20-win mark. RMU has three starters returning from their conference championship team a year ago. In the last game played at the UPMC Events Center, the Colonials punched their ticket to March Madness before the pandemic cancelled the tournament.
Point Park has all five starters returning from last year's team that was 15-16 overall. In his third year in charge of the Pioneers, Lewandowski welcomes back the entire roster from 2019-20. The Pioneers have eight players returning who all started at least 10 games last year.
Check back at PointParkSports.com for links to available live coverage of Saturday's game. Available live media for any event is always posted at PointParkSports.com/Live. RMU currently has a pause in fan attendance at home events that continues through Dec. 31.
