Box score

With three-pointers pouring in from all over the court and a poise that seemed to surprise the always-packed Croy Gymnasium crowd at the University of Findlay, the Malone University men's basketball team nearly pulled off what would have been one of the biggest upsets in the program's history Tuesday night as the Pioneers lost a hard-fought 92-87 contest to the NCAA Div. II #2 ranked Oilers. On their storied home court, where a 127-2 home court record over the last seven seasons and a 94 regular-season home game winning streak currently stands, the Oilers withstood all the Pioneers dished out on the night, particularly a barrage of three-pointers in which Malone hit 13 of 20 for the game, including nine in the second stanza as the Pioneers steadily closed the Findlay scoring advantage. With the loss, Malone dropped to 5-2 overall on the season while the Oilers improved to 5-0.

Malone jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before Findlay rallied to tie it at 7-7 and extend its lead to as many 12 points before holding a 40-31 lead at the intermission. The Pioneers quickly got back to within three points, at 46-43, within the first four minutes of the second half and stayed within striking distance the rest of the way out, with Findlay leads averaging between five and eight points over the next 10-12 minutes. 

Then, with just 2:44 left in the game, guard Eric Coblentz drilled one of his five three-pointers on the night to knot the game at 81-all. A 7-2 point advantage by the Oilers followed by the last of Coblentz' three-pointers with just 24 seconds on the clock made the score 88-87 in favor of the hosts. Then, with 12 seconds left, a pair of free throws by Findlay gave the hosts a 90-87 edge. A chance to send the game into overtime was within the Pioneers' reach as Coblentz launched the final Pioneer attempt with two seconds left on the clock but the ball bounced off the rim into the Oilers' possession. A Pioneer foul and two made free throws by Findlay with less than a second on the clock made the final score 92-87.

While Malone held the advantage in three-pointers on the night, hitting 13 of 20 (65.0%), the Oilers sank just 3 of 15 (20.0%) from beyond the arc. Overall field goal percentages were nearly even for the game as Findlay hit 32-59 (54.2%) and Malone sank 30-61 (49.2%). But a 25-28 (89.3%) effort at the foul line, with nearly a dozen more attempts than Malone's 14-17 (82.4%) performance at the stripe, proved to be the difference for the hosts on this night. While the Oilers held a 33-29 edge in rebounds, Malone led in assists 22-15. 

While Coblentz led the team in scoring with a game-high 27 points, the three-point shooting of guard Kyle Higgins also helped keep the Pioneers close in the final period as he hit all five of his treys in the second half with a total of 17 points on the night. Starting point guard Isiah Elliott also hit double digit scoring in the game with 12 points and notched six rebounds as well. Guard Che Richardson tallied nine points and forward Cory Veldhuizen chipped in eight points while forward Bradson Ephraim pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Coblentz led the team in assists with six.

Findlay was led by Nathan Hyde who tossed in 25 points while Aaron Robinson followed with 16 points. Three other Oilers reached twin figures as well, including Greg Kahlig with 15, Kyle Caiola at 12 and Brad Piehl with 10 points.

Malone will next compete at NAIA Div. II #14 Cedarville University on Tuesday, November 30^th in an 8:00 p.m. contest.   The game will be broadcast live on WNPQ 95.9 fm and will also be live audio streamed at www.thelight959.com.