Men's Basketball: Point Park 86, IU East 85

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Indiana University East men's basketball team almost got the job done in the quarterfinals of the River States Conference Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

Ranked 15th nationally, No. 1 seed Point Park University edged No. 9 IU East 86-85 inside the CCAC-Allegheny Physical Education Building.

The Red Wolves battled to take the lead for the first time in the contest with 5.9 seconds remaining when Devon Woods scored to put IU East up by a point.

Unfortunately for the Red Wolves, a sixth straight victory wasn't meant to be as Point Park's Jalen Stamps made a layup at the buzzer to send the Pioneers to the semifinals of the RSC Championships this weekend. 

IU East ends the season at 12-18, while Point Park is 27-2 as the Pioneers won their eighth in a row.

Ibra Athie topped IU East with 25 points and 18 rebounds, while Colt Meyer finished with 20 points.

Allen tossed in 15 points as Jake Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Woods had six points. Stamps led Point Park with 25 points and six assists.

Point Park began the contest with an 8-0 run to set the tone for most of the contest. The Pioneers led by as much as 16 in the opening period as they held on to a 50-42 advantage by halftime.

In the second half, the Red Wolves trailed by a dozen points on several occasions before closing to the gap. Antuane Allen made a layup with 3:51 to go to make it 80-80 to set the stage for the finish.