The Columbia International University Men's Basketball team was engaged in a battle with the Point University Skyhawks from the opening tip. The Rams were looking to right the ship and pick up a big Appalachian Athletic Conference win and the Skyhawks were hoping to win on the road. The Rams staged a second half comeback that was capped off with a game winning jumper by Arthur Pearson. With the win the Rams move to 8-7 on the year.

1st Half Highlights:

• Arthur Pearson would get the Rams on the board with the first four points
• The Skyhaws would take an early 7-4 lead after the first CIU points
• Corey Benton would answer back scoring seven points in a row to give the Rams the lead back, 13-12
• The Skyhawks would regain the lead 19-13
• Benton and Pearson were at it again as they score the Rams next four points to pull within two, 19-17
• The teams would go back and forth over the next several minutes, but with 4:11 left in the half the Skyhawks took a double digit lead
• The Rams would close out the half strong scoring the last basket to go into half down 43-37

2nd Half Highlights:

• The Skyhawks came out strong to open the second half as they regained a double digit lead
• The Rams seemed to get a shot of energy as they 21-7 run over a six minute period to take a 58-54 lead
• During the run the Rams had four different players score
• The Rams would take their biggest lead of eight points at two different times. First it was a three by Benton and after a Skyhawks jumper, Jeff McIlwain would grabbed the offensive rebound and lay it back in
• The Skyhawks would fight back and tie the game at 69, but a three by Benton on the next possession gave the Rams the lead back
• The Skyhawks would tie the game at 74 with 1:17 left
• Pearson was able to give the Rams the lead back after converting a layup in the pain, but the Skyhawks would score to tie the game once again
• Pearson brough the ball up the court for one final shot as it was a win or go to overtime shot. Pearson worked his way off a screen and through traffic to put up a contested shot, but it hit nothing but net with 0.8 seconds left.
• The Skyhawks were unable to get off a shot and the Rams won 78-76

Box Score Highlights:

• The Rams shot the ball well as they shot 43.5% (30-of-69) from the floor and were 9-of-13 from the line, while the Skyhawks shot 49.2% and were 8-of-18 from beyond the arch...The Rams had the advantage on the glass as they had 40 rebounds compared to the Skyhawks 35...Corey Benton led the Rams with 29 points and chipped in four rebounds...Arthur Pearson had 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists...Jeff McIlwain had a double-double as he had 11 points and 12 rebounds...Jamon Moore led the Skyhawks with 20 points

Up Next: The Rams will be back in action on Thursday as they travel to take on Montreat College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.