WEST POINT, Ga. - A double-overtime Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle ended in a CIU men's basketball loss on Tuesday evening as the Rams fell to Point (Ga.) 80-75 after 50 minutes of action. The loss is CIU's first to the Skyhawks since the 2020-2021 season. The Rams move to 5-7 overall and 4-5 in the AAC.
After trailing for the majority of the first half, a pair of free throws from Skyler McKinney and a layup from Darrian Oates put the Rams up 20-17 (8:06). The Rams advantage grew to five, but a late dunk from Point put the Skyhawks up 32-31 heading into halftime.
Lead changes abounded throughout the second half, but the Rams pulled ahead 57- 55 on a thunderous DiAnthony Heathcock tip-dunk with 2:09 to play. The Skyhawks evened the score at 57-57 in the waning moments of the game, but McKinney put the Rams back in front 60-57 on a clutch triple with 27 ticks left. The Skyhawks responded with a triple of their own, and a last-second floater from Oates rolled out as the game headed to overtime knotted at 60-60.
Jalen Brinson kept CIU alive, forcing a second overtime with a jumper to even the score at 67-67 at the end of the first extra period. However, the effort was ultimately in vain as CIU was outscord 13-to-8 in the second overtime as the Rams fell 80-67.
The Rams had four players in double-figures, with Heathcock and Oates each scoring 16. Heathcock recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 12 boards. McKinney and Brinson rounded out CIU's scoring, with Mckinney posting 12 points and eight rebounds while Brinson tacked on ten points and five assists.
Despite the loss, CIU won both rebounding and turnover battles recording 38 rebounds and only coughing up the rock six times.
What Coach Tony Stockman is saying: "It would have been great to get this win on the road before Christmas break. We are going to have to pull out games like this in the second half of the season if we want to find success in our conference."
Up Next: The Rams are not back in action until the new calendar year when they face Truett McConnell on Tues. Jan. 3 at 4 PM in the Moore Fitness Center.
