WHEELING, W.Va. – The 10-seeded Point Park men's basketball team will take on second-seeded Fairmont State in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain East Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday afternoon at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling. Tip is set for noon as the matchup will open Quarterfinal Friday in the men's tournament.
Friday's noon matchup will broadcast live on SportsNet Pittsburgh+, with live streaming coverage on MountainEast.tv and WVMetroNewsTV.com.
On Wednesday evening, Point Park became the first MEC Tournament No. 10 seed to knock off the No. 7 seed in the opening round. The Pioneers defeated Frostburg State, 74-71, behind a season-high 26 points and nine rebounds from
Brenden Williams.
Nathanial Van also chipped in a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Point Park shot 54 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Bobcats 49-18, and knocked down 17-of-23 attempts from the free throw line.
Thursday's opening round game featured five ties and 10 lead changes.
THE MATCHUP
Fairmont State took the two regular season meetings between the programs. In Pittsburgh on Jan. 15, the Falcons pulled out a narrow 84-79 victory down the stretch, getting 29 points from Andre Harris and 19 from David Jolinder.
Aiden Miller led Point Park with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while
Brenden Williams chipped in 19.
In Fairmont on Feb. 19, Fairmont State erased a halftime deficit to defeat the Pioneers 72-61. Harris once again led the Falcons with 19 points in the win. Meanwhile,
Aidan Anderson scored 13 points to lead Point Park.
In both games, Point Park made more field goals than Fairmont State.
Prior to Wednesday's win over Frostburg State, Point Park entered the MEC Tournament on a 10-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 25. It's last win over a conference opponent was on Jan. 11, a 76-75 win over West Virginia State. Point Park enters Friday's semifinals with a record of 11-18.
Fairmont State enters the MEC Tournament on a four-game winning streak with a record of 24-4. The Falcons currently rank 11
th nationally by the NABC and are sixth in the latest NCAA Atlantic Region Rankings.
NATE VAN GOES OVER 1,000 ON WEDNESDAY
In Wednesday's win over Frostburg State, Nate Van surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his Point Park career and now has 1,016 points wearing the green and gold. Van shot 8-of-18 from the floor on Wednesday night.
NOTE: Third-year head coach
Kevin Reynolds took over the Pioneers program prior to the 2022-23 season and has a three-year record of 65-28. He has a career record of 253-137 in 13 seasons as a head coach.
