Box Score

Facing its second fellow GLIAC member school in four days, the Malone University men's basketball team lost a 72-61 decision on the road to Lake Erie College Saturday afternoon. After knocking off NCAA Div. II #7 University of Findlay 74-71 in the Oilers' heralded Croy Gymnasium on Tuesday, the Pioneers' loss to the host Storm gave Malone its first setback of the young season as the team now stands at 2-1 on the year while Lake Erie, with the win, improved to 2-1.

In the first half, Malone held the slight upper hand for the majority of the period with its largest lead at 23-16 with 7:52 remaining. The Storm slowly chipped away at the Pioneer lead and held a 31-28 lead of their own with three minutes left in the first frame before Malone scored the final five points of the half to take a 33-31 lead into the intermission.

The contest stayed fairly even in the early part of the second half until Malone matched its largest lead of the game with a 56-49 edge with 7:17 remaining. Lake Erie responded by scoring the next 11 points to go up 60-56 with 3:17 left. The Pioneers were still within that same four-point margin, trailing just 62-58 with only 1:55 remaining, but the Storm pulled away down the stretch for the 11-point win.

Guard Eric Coblentz paced the team on offense for the second straight game, this time with a game-high 23 points, and continued his solid shooting from beyond the three-point arc hitting six of 12 attempts. He was 8 of 14 from the field and also pocketed four rebounds and three assists.

Forward Cory Veldhuizen also hit double-digit scoring with 11 points while also collecting a team-best seven rebounds and three steals. Point guard Isiah Elliott tallied nine points, five rebounds and three assists while guard Che Richardson had seven points and five boards. In addition, forward Zach Wasson contributed six points and three rebounds.

Malone held a slight edge in field goal percentage, at 40.7% (22-54) with Lake Erie at 38.5% (25-65), and also held an advantage from three-point range, at 37.5% (9-24) to the Storm's 18.2% (4-22). The Pioneers' struggles at the free throw line, though, at 44.4% (8-18), coupled with Lake Erie's 81.8% (18-22) effort, was among the keys to victory for the hosts, along with the Storm's eight fewer turnovers in the contest (10 to 18). The rebounding battle was close with Lake Erie holding a slight 28-26 advantage.

With two GLIAC opponents now in its rearview mirror, the immediate road ahead for the Pioneers does not get any easier as the team will next face NCAA Div. II #12 University of Southern Indiana on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CST (8:30 p.m. EST) and then NCAA Div. II #1 Bellarmine (KY) University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. CST (2:00 p.m. EST) in Southern Indiana's Bill Joergens Memorial Classic.  Both games will be broadcast on the Malone Sports Network (on the radio at WNPQ 95.9 FM and streaming live on the internet at www.thelight959.com).  Live statistics will also be provided by the Southern Indiana sports information department.