Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team, ranked 17th in the most recent NAIA Division II National Poll, withstood some early shooting struggles and a late Falcon rally to notch a 65-62 road victory Tuesday evening in its American Mideast Conference match-up with Notre Dame (OH) College. With the three-point triumph, the Pioneers stretched their winning streak to four games, improving their record to 14-6 overall and 7-1 in the AMC. The Falcons, meanwhile, fell to 7-11 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

Malone trailed 31-26 at halftime after making just 11 of 32 (34.4%) field-goal attempts over the first 20 minutes. Five quick Falcon points then pushed the Notre Dame advantage to 36-26 in the opening moments of the second stanza. The Pioneers quickly responded, though, outscoring the Falcons 20-2 over the next seven and a half minutes to pull ahead 46-38. The Falcons recovered from Malone's big surge, tying the game at 51-51 before three-pointers by guard Kyle Higgins and forward Che Richardson put the Pioneers back in front 57-51 with four and a half minutes to play.

Malone then looked to have a comfortable 64-57 lead with 23 seconds left before Notre Dame forward Eric Dummermuth fueled a late Falcon rally, scoring five of his game-high 32 points in the final seconds with a jumper in the paint followed by a three-point play. However, 64-62 was as close as Notre Dame would get as Pioneer forward Ebiowei Porbeni split a pair of free throws with 4.2 ticks remaining to push the margin back to three at 65-62. The Falcons heaved a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer but the shot was well off the mark, sealing the Malone victory.

Notre Dame held a 42-36 edge in total rebounds in Tuesday's contest and outscored the Pioneers 42-18 in the paint. Malone helped to make up for this Falcon advantage inside by sinking 10 three-pointers. The Pioneers also blocked six shots and grabbed nine steals.

On the evening, Malone shot 38.1% (24 of 63) from the field, 43.5% (10 of 23) from beyond the three-point arc, and 58.3% (seven of 12) at the foul line. Notre Dame countered by connecting on 43.1% (25 of 58) of its shots from the floor, 33.3% (three of nine) of its three-pointers and 75% (nine of 12) of its free throws.

Forward Jock Rottman led the way for the Pioneers with 12 points off the bench. Forward Cory Veldhuizen followed with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Guard Eric Coblentz added nine points. Guard Isiah Elliott posted eight points and three steals. Richardson contributed seven points and five boards while Porbeni ended the night with six points and six rebounds.

Dummermuth pulled down 15 rebounds to go with his 32 points.

Malone will be back in action on Friday evening with a 7:30 p.m. contest at home against AMC foe Houghton (NY) College (5-12 overall, 0-8 AMC). The Pioneers and Highlanders previously faced off at Houghton on December 11th, a game the Pioneers won by a final score of 79-44. Fans that cannot be in attendance for the rematch Friday at Osborne Hall can follow the action on-line with live statistics.