Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team, ranked 22nd in the most recent NAIA Division II National Poll, had all five starters score in double figures Tuesday night in a 97-77 American Mideast Conference victory on the road against Wilberforce University. The Pioneers shot 53% (18 of 34) from the floor over the first 20 minutes to build a 52-37 halftime lead. The Bulldogs pulled to within 10 points on five occasions during the latter part of the second stanza but were unable to cut the deficit to single digits. Malone, which also defeated Wilberforce at home on November 16th by a final score of 96-72, completed a season sweep of the Bulldogs with the victory while improving its record to 17-9 overall and 10-4 in the AMC. Wilberforce, meanwhile, dropped to 5-19 overall and 3-11 in the conference.

The Pioneers held a 16-9 advantage five minutes into Tuesday's match-up before the Bulldogs charged back, outscoring Malone 12-4 over the next three minutes to grab a 21-20 lead. However, the Pioneers managed to regain control moments later, using a 15-4 surge of their own to pull ahead 44-29 with 6:22 remaining in the opening stanza.

On the evening, Malone connected on 48.5% (32 of 66) of its field goals, 33.3% (10 of 30) of its three pointers and 85.2% (23 of 27) of its free throws. Wilberforce countered by making 36.1% (30 of 83) of its shots from the field, 15.4% (two of 13) of its three-pointers and 78.9% (15 of 19) of its foul shots. Both teams pulled down 46 rebounds.

Forward Ebiowei Porbeni and guard Eric Coblentz both notched 19 points to lead the way for the Pioneers. In addition to their scoring output, Porbeni also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Coblentz grabbed four boards and handed out three assists. Guard Isiah Elliott filled up the stat sheet with 16 points on six-of-seven shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and two steals. Forward Cory Veldhuizen tossed in 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists while forward Nick Watts added 10 points.

Forward Darius Foster paced Wilberforce with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Guard Chris Olafioye posted 20 points while center Tremayne Scott contributed 18 points.

Malone will be back in action on Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. AMC contest at home against Point Park (PA) University (11-10 overall, 5-8 AMC). The Pioneers will be looking to avenge one of their four conference defeats from earlier this season as PPU topped Malone 90-80 in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania on January 27th. Fans that cannot be in attendance at Osborne Hall on Saturday can follow the action on-line with live statistics.

Playoff Picture: This season, the American Mideast Conference will award two automatic bids to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament. The first bid will be go to the conference's regular-season champion. 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 play at the highest remaining seed's home court on Saturday February 26th.

With a week and a half remaining in the regular season, Malone is currently in second place in the AMC standings with a 10-4 conference mark. The Pioneers have three straight home games coming up, beginning with Saturday's contest against seventh-place Point Park. Malone will then host eighth-place Notre Dame College on Tuesday, February 15th and third-place Cedarville University on Thursday, February 17th before wrapping up the regular season on the road against fourth-placed Mt. Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday, February 19th.

AMC Men's Basketball Standings