Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team suffered a 78-68 defeat on Wednesday evening in a hard-fought road contest against NCAA Division II Central State University.  The Pioneers trailed by a 60-54 margin with just under eight minutes remaining in the second half before the host Marauders managed to take control, using a 16-4 scoring run to open up a commanding 76-58 advantage with a little over three minutes to play.  Malone outscored Central State 10-2 the rest of the way, but it was not enough to close the sizable gap.  The Marauders improved their record to 9-5 with the victory while the Pioneers suffered their fifth straight defeat, falling to 7-9 overall.

Central State never trailed in the game, jumping out to an early 10-2 lead following the first two minutes of action.  The Pioneers quickly fought back into the contest, trimming the deficit to 12-10 moments later.  The Marauders then stretched their first-half advantage to as many as nine points before heading to the locker room at intermission in front 36-30.  Malone knotted the score at 40-40 and 42-42 early in the second stanza but was unable to take the lead.  Five unanswered points put Central State in front 47-42 and the Marauders then finally pulled away with the late second-half surge.

On the evening, Central State knocked down 26 of 58 (44.8%) shots from the field, five of 15 (33.3%) three-pointers and 21 of 28 (75%) free throws.  The Pioneers countered by making 26 of 61 (42.6%) field goals, six of 23 (26.1%) treys and 10 of 15 (66.7%) foul shots.  The Marauders capitalized on 23 Malone turnovers, scoring a total of 28 points off Pioneer miscues.  Each team pulled down 37 total rebounds.

Guards Eric Coblentz and Isiah Elliott led the way for Malone.  Coblentz registered a team-high 17 points to go with six rebounds.  Elliott, meanwhile, racked up 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three steals and one block.  Forward Cory Veldhuizen followed with nine points, four rebounds and four assists while guard Michael Shull came off the bench to contribute eight points.

Guard Greg Rice paced Central State with 17 points.  Forward DeMarkus Isom-Jones finished with 14 points and guard DeAndre Riep added 12 points.

Malone will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when the squad hosts a 4:00 p.m. contest against NCAA Division II Urbana University (4-9 overall).  Check out live statistics from the game at http://www.sidearmstats.com/malone/mbball/index.htm.