Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team tallied a solid 91-77 victory in its 2011-12 season opener over visiting Houghton (NY) College in Osborne Hall Saturday night.  The Pioneers grabbed a 42-31 halftime lead and held off a Highlander charge, which brought Houghton to within two points at 65-63 with eight minutes left, to pull away for the 14-point victory.  While Malone went to 1-0 on the year, Houghton dropped its second contest of the young season and stands at 0-2.

With the score tied at 13-13 with 12:37 left in the first half, Malone refused to give up the lead and slowly and methodically extended its advantage over the next 12 minutes for the 11-point halftime lead.  In the second half, Houghton cut into the Pioneer lead, trimming the margin to only three points, at 53-50 with 12:08 left in the game, before Malone built the edge back up to 11 points just minutes later.  The Highlanders would make one final push over the next several minutes to close that gap to two points (65-63) before Malone began to close the door with a final 23-12 run over that final eight minutes to post the 91-77 win.

Malone connected on 47.3% (26-55) of its field goal attempts while Houghton hit on 44.1% (26-59) of its tries.  From three-point range, Houghton fared a bit better as they sank six of 14 attempts for 42.9% while the Pioneers made five of 21 (23.8%).  But it was at the free throw line that Malone cashed in on the night, drilling 34 of 40 attempts (85.0%) while Houghton sank just 19 of 28 (67.9%).  The Pioneers held a slight edge in rebounding by a 36-33 margin.

The Pioneers showcased a balanced scoring attack on the night as six players hit double digits led by a game-high 22 points by forward Cory Veldhuizen, who was eight of 10 from the field, two of two from three-point range and four of four at the line. Guard Eric Coblentz, who was a perfect nine for nine at the line, followed with 17 points and he also yanked down a team-high seven rebounds. Point guard Isiah Elliott tallied 13 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds while guard Che Richardson and forward Zach Bates each posted 11 points.  Michael Shull rounded out the twin figure scoring with 10 points.

Houghton was led by Chris Confair and Matthew Dean who both tossed in 17 points in the contest. Mike Munoz collected a game-high nine rebounds for the Highlanders.

Malone (1-0) will next compete at NCAA Division II #7 perennial national power University of Findlay on Tuesday in a 7:30 p.m. contest.  The game will be broadcast on WNPQ 95.9 FM radio and will also be live audio streamed at www.thelight959.com.