Point Park gaining valuable experience from D-I opponents
COVID-19 has known no bounds when it comes to being a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh college basketball scene.
From Oakland to the Bluff to 15 miles west in Moon Township, the pandemic has inflicted harm on each of the city’s three Division I men’s basketball programs in one way or another. Duquese has either canceled or postponed six games due to COVID-19 concerns. Robert Morris has canceled five games, in addition to a two-week pause of all program activities when cases spread throughout the program in mid-November. And in a postgame news conference last week, Pitt coach Jeff Capel expressed his concern that “something doesn’t feel right” about the NCAA continuing its season amidst surging case counts across the United States.
The struggle has been real all around.
However, an outlier still exists within the city limits. Meet the Point Park Pioneers, an NAIA program that has leveraged the ripple effects of COVID-19 as a unique opportunity to field a non-conference schedule of Division I opponents. So far, Point Park has traveled to play Kent State (Dec. 2), Robert Morris (Dec. 5), Youngstown State (Dec. 9) and Stony Brook Tuesday. The Pioneers are 0-4 with four double-digit losses over the span, although the benefits of playing up have still outweighed the drawbacks. From adapting to a quicker pace of play to capitalizing on tighter windows of opportunity, they have been forced to elevate every facet of their game — and it’s paying off.
“We’re so grateful for the opportunities these schools are giving us,” said senior forward Garret McHenry. “When you get to play guys at that level, you have to bring your game every night. We’re learning that the hard way by taking our bumps and bruises, but each game we’re getting better and taking away what we can learn.”
The situation presented itself after Point Park’s NAIA River States Conference postponed all games until January in light of the pandemic. In response, coach Joe Lewandowski started making calls to offer the program’s services for anyone in need of making up lost games. It didn’t take long for the dominoes to start falling, and next thing they knew, the Pioneers were preparing for four Division I matchups over a twoweek slate.
“The one thing about this crew is that they are incredibly resilient,” said Lewandowski, now in his third year with the program. “They’re tough kids. They love to play. They’re gym rats. When anybody comes around asking for a game, they always respond with the same answer — let’s do it.
“We don’t lip service the idea that we want to play anyone at any time. We really try to walk the walk. That’s important for us.”
The first Division I game dealt Point Park a harsh blow of reality. The Pioneers were sharing the court with a Kent State team that had far superior size, talent and resources and was coming off consecutive 20-win seasons in the MidAmerican Conference. Meanwhile, the Pioneers were without four starters due to injury — undermanned, inexperienced and wide-eyed by the bright lights and intensity of the moment. The final score was about as rough as one would expect given the circumstances — a 90-41 defeat after a 19-point halftime deficit.
But even as the Pioneers trailed by more than 40 points with four minutes left to play, junior guard Jesse Calloway — one of the team’s top players — still pulled Lewandowski aside during a media timeout with a message that caught his coach by surprise.
‘‘Coach, I love this experience,” he told Lewandowski. “Thank you. We’re not going to see this in conference play. We need this.”
In hindsight, the loss taught Lewandowski more about his team than any NAIA win ever could.
“There’s four minutes left in the game and you’re looking up at the scoreboard seeing that [Kent State] is starting to run away with it and we’re starting to break down,” he said. “You’d think the guys would be at their lowest, but they’re like, ‘No, we love this. We want to compete.’ That right there told me all I needed to know about their character and what they’re about.”
Then came another silver lining in the days ahead. Point Park responded with stronger performances against Robert Morris and Youngstown State, outrebounding both Horizon League opponents by a combined 82-78 margin in a pair of 20-point losses. In the latter, it led Youngstown State for most of the first half and only trailed by one at halftime. The clear signs of progression were a byproduct of the team’s Division I baptism by fire that will only make them stronger entering NAIA play.
“We’re going harder,” said junior guard Eddie Flohr, a Chartiers Valley grad. “If you look at the last three games, we’ve definitely progressed. You can tell we’re finally starting to click. We’re talking more defensively. We’re shooting gaps. We’re hitting open shooters. It’s just great to be out there.”