The Malone University men's basketball team will be on the road for a pair of Great Midwest Athletic Conference games against Trevecca Nazarene University and Kentucky Wesleyan University. The Pioneers will travel to Nashville to take on the Trojans on Thursday, January 4th at 9:00 pm EST. The team will then face the Panthers in Owensboro on Saturday, January 6th at 4:15 pm EST.

GameDay

1/4 Malone @ Trevecca Nazarene - 8:00 pm CST (9:00 pm EST)

1/6 Malone @ Kentucky Wesleyan - 3:15 pm CST (4:15 pm EST)

Video & Live Stats for both contests: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/malone/

Series History

Last season was the first time that Malone faced Trevecca Nazarene or Kentucky Wesleyan. The Pioneers swept the Trojans in their two contests last season, winning by scores of 70-49 and 71-67. Kentucky Wesleyan swept Malone in the regular season, and they also beat the Pioneers in the G-MAC Tournament semifinals. The Pioneers almost knocked off Kentucky Wesleyan when the Panthers were ranked 15th in the nation, falling 88-84 in their second meeting of the 2016-17 season. Kentucky Wesleyan was able to beat Malone by over twenty points in their other two meetings.

Game Notes

Malone Schedule | Roster | Statistics

Record: 9-5 (2-4)

• The Pioneers picked up their second conference win of the season on Saturday, defeating Ohio Dominican 66-59. Nate Sheppard and Ty Jordan each tossed in 18 points in the contest. Mitchell Spotleson scored 15 points. The team was able to pull off the win despite going an uncharacteristic 18.8% from the three-point line.

• After a cold night from behind the arc, the Pioneers were able to heat up in their next match against Cedarville, making 13 out of 36 threes. However, the Pioneers lost that game 88-75 as Cedarville went 13 of 23 from three. Nate Sheppard led the way with 25 points. Ty Jordan followed with 21. Jaret Majestic scored 15, going 5 for 7 from three.

• Ty Jordan is scoring 24.2 points per game in G-MAC play, which leads the conference. Djuro Pantos is grabbing eight rebounds against conference opponents, which is fifth in the conference. Daylan Haynie's average of 4.8 assists against conference opponents is fourth in the G-MAC.

Trevecca Nazarene Schedule | Roster | Statistics

Record: 1-12 (0-5)

• The Trojans are searching for their first win in conference play. The team came close twice, falling by three to Hillsdale and by five to Findlay earlier in the season. The team's only win this season was a 75-58 victory over McKendree University.

• Devin Whitfield leads the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists on the season in just eight games. He is scoring 19.3 points per game while grabbing 7.3 rebounds per outing. He has 30 assists in his eight games. Whitfield is also shooting 52.9% from three-point range.

• The Trojans have four players averaging double-digit scoring with Jacob Williams, Michael Thompson, and Deion Johnson joining Whitfield in that group.

• Mehdi El Mardi is second in the G-MAC in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing 3.1 offensive boards per contest.

Kentucky Wesleyan Schedule | Roster | Statistics

Record: 9-5 (4-1)

• The Panthers are currently on a six-game winning streak. KWC dropped four of their first five games, and have been on fire since then. Their only hiccup came in a 94-71 loss to Findlay. Findlay is currently 9-0 in conference play and is on an 11-game winning streak of their own.

• Kentucky Wesleyan is second in the conference in field-goal percentage, shooting 49.8% from the field. The only team leading the Panthers in that department is Walsh, who Kentucky Wesleyan will play on Thursday before taking on Malone. Kentucky Wesleyan trails only Malone in three-point percentage, making 40% of their threes. However, the Panthers make just 6.1 threes each game, the lowest total in the conference.

• Daniel Dzierzawski leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game. Dzierzawski is shooting 56.4% from the field, the second best in the G-MAC. He is shooting 82.7% from the free throw line.

• The Panthers have seven players who are averaging 9.0 points or higher on the season.