Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team, ranked 22nd in the most recent NAIA Division II National Poll, suffered a narrow 76-75 loss at home on Saturday afternoon in its American Mideast Conference match-up with Point Park (PA) University. Malone trailed 41-26 at halftime but slowly chipped away at the deficit throughout the second stanza, cutting the PPU lead to just one with 1:23 remaining on a three-pointer by forward Che Richardson. After both teams came up empty on their ensuing possessions, Malone fouled, sending Point Park to the line with 25 ticks showing on the clock. The visitors then missed the front end of their 1-and-1 opportunity and Richardson snagged the rebound, giving the ball back to Malone for one final possession. The hosts were unable to take their first lead of the afternoon, though, as guard Isiah Elliott's potential game-winning three was just off the mark as the final buzzer sounded. Point Park, which had also topped Malone in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania on January 27th by a final score of 90-80, completed a season sweep of the Pioneers with the victory while improving its record to 13-10 overall and 7-8 in the AMC. Malone, meanwhile, dropped to 17-10 overall and 10-5 in the conference.

The hosts struggled on the offensive end of the floor during the opening stanza, making just 27.5% (11-for-40) of their first-half field goals. Malone managed to outscore Point Park by a 49-35 margin over the final 20 minutes, but the squad's 50% (17-for-34) second-half shooting performance was not quite enough to close the sizable gap.

Forward Cory Veldhuizen paced Malone second-half charge as he scored 19 of his career-high 24 points during the final period. Veldhuizen also totaled eight rebounds and two steals. Forward Jock Rottman followed with 12 points off the bench. Richardson, guard Kyle Higgins and forward Ebiowei Porbeni all posted eight points. Forward Bradson Ephraim tallied six points and a team-best nine rebounds while Elliott finished with seven assists and eight boards.

PPU forward Kris Douse, who entered the contest as the leading rebounder in all of NAIA Division II, posted a big game with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Guard Josh Trocchio hit five of his 12 three-pointers and ended the game with 22 points. Guard Joel Cashatt contributed 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals while guard Jimmy Sherwood tossed in 12 points before fouling out.

On the afternoon, Malone shot 37.8% (28-of-74) from the field, 25.9% (7-of-27) from beyond the arc and 60% (12-of-20) from the foul line. Point Park countered by connecting on 43.1% (25-of-58) of its shots from the floor, 33.3% (8-of-24) of its three-pointers, and 64.3% (18 –of-28) of its free throws. Malone held a 45-42 advantage in total rebounds and got a 34-point contribution from its bench compared to just two points from Point Park's reserves.

Malone will look to bounce back on Tuesday when it returns to action with a 7:30 p.m. AMC contest against Notre Dame (OH) College (10-17 overall, 5-10 AMC). In this season's previous meeting, the Pioneers topped the Falcons in South Euclid on January 18th by a final tally of 65-62. Fans that cannot be attendance at Osborne Hall can follow Tuesday's action live on the internet with free streaming video and statistics.

Playoff Picture: This season, the American Mideast Conference will award two automatic bids to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament. Despite suffering its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College, Walsh University has locked up the first bid after having already secured the AMC regular-season title. The second bid will be awarded to the winner of the four-team AMC Qualifying Tournament that will consist of finishers two through five in the final regular-season standings. The tournament will begin on Tuesday, February 22nd with No. 5 traveling to No. 2 and No. 4 at No. 3. The winner of these opening round games will then face-off at the highest remaining seed's home court on Saturday February 26th with a trip to the NAIA Division II National Tournament on the line. The conference's two national tournament representatives (Walsh and the qualifying tourney winner) will then take part in an AMC Tournament Championship Game that will be held at Walsh on Tuesday, March 1st.  (See AMC Tournament Bracket below)

With a week remaining in the regular season, Malone is currently tied with Cedarville University for second place in the AMC standings with identical 10-5 conference marks. The Pioneers have three regular-season contests left on their schedule, beginning with Tuesday's match-up with eighth-place Notre Dame. Malone will then face Cedarville at home on Thursday, February 17th before wrapping up the regular season on the road against sixth-place Mt. Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday, February 19th.

AMC Tournament Bracket

AMC Men's Basketball Standings