KOKOMO, Ind. - The IU Kokomo men's basketball team earned a thrilling 76-66 win over Point Park in front of a rowdy crowd inside the Student Activities and Events Center.
Point Park led early on in the game, but the Cougars utilized a 9-0 run to take their first lead. The 9-0 run, fueled by to take a 13-6 lead. A
Noah Harris triple extended the IUK lead to 12 at 22-10, but the Pioneers would not trail by double-digits for long.
Jalen Stamps drilled a three-pointer to trim their deficit to four with five minutes remaining in the first half. IUK managed to build the lead back to eight in the waning minutes of the half, but the Pioneers got within two with 1:44 left. The Cougars took a 37-33 lead into halftime.
Leading the Pioneers 45-42 early in the second-half, Point Park went on a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead. The Cougars responded immediately after an
Eric Echelbarger timeout, scoring nine of the next ten points to take a 54-53 lead. Another
Hunter White triple made it a seven-point IUK lead inside seven minutes remaining, forcing a Pioneer timeout.
IU Kokomo extended the lead to double-digits with 3:00 minutes remaining and went on to close out a highly-competitive RSC Semifinal matchup 76-66..
Hunter White showed up under the spotlight Saturday, scoring a team-high 28 points on 7-9 shooting from the field while going 8-10 from the free-throw line. White also had five assists and four rebounds.
Noah Harris added 14 points off the bench while playing some big minutes.
Zach Rinehart gave a big-time effort Saturday, playing 38 minutes while scoring 11 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing five assists. Dell DeMeyers scored ten points while playing some big-time minutes.
The Cougars will be back in action Tuesday as they host IU Southeast in the River States Conference Championship game Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7:00 P.M.
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