MARIETTA, Ga. – On Tuesday night inside the Hornets Nest, the Southern Polytechnic State University men's basketball team opened its 2012-13 season with an 82-80 non-conference loss to the visiting Point University Skyhawks in Jeffrey Pourchier's debut as the Hornets' head coach. Southern Polytechnic is ranked sixth nationally in the NAIA Division I preseason coaches' poll.
Southern Poly led just once in the game (2-0) before falling behind by nine points on three occasions. The Hornets trimmed their deficit to a single point (34-33) but Point came back to take a 40-35 halftime lead. The Skyhawks took their biggest advantage, 79-68, with less than three minutes left in the contest but a 12-1 run by SPSU tied it up at 80-80 with 29.5 seconds to go. The guests scored the game-winning basket before Southern Poly missed a three-point attempt in the final seconds.
"I thought we came out a little sluggish," Pourchier said. "We've got a lot of new guys in a new system. I thought our guys took a little bit to get going and they jumped out on us. We tried to fight back but we missed some opportunities late in the game."
The Hornets shot 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the field while Point finished at 46.5 percent (33-of-71). SPSU, which outscored the Skyhawks 27-9 from behind the three-point line, was 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) from the free throw line, compared to 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) for Point. The hosts forced the Skyhawks into 24 turnovers but were outrebounded 48-36.
Senior guard CJ McElrath tossed in a game-high 26 points for Southern Poly while senior guard Martavis Kee had 14 points and four assists off the bench. Senior forward/center Jarred Riley tallied 10 points and two blocked shots while junior forward Kevin Phillip collected nine points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Chase Robinson added nine points and four steals.
Point is 2-1 overall on the young season. The Hornets return to action next Tuesday when hosting the Concordia College Hornets (from Selma, Ala.). Tipoff for the non-conference contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
