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The Malone University men's basketball team suffered a tough 99-94 home loss to Walsh University on Thursday night in the 48th annual Mayors' Cup game.  The Pioneers jetted out to an early 21-2 lead in front of a jam-packed Osborne Hall crowd of over 1000 fans, but the visiting Cavaliers rallied back with a barrage of three-pointers, cutting the deficit to 48-41 at halftime before eventually overtaking Malone late in the final stanza.  With the five-point victory on Thursday, Walsh avenged a 71-67 home loss to the Pioneers earlier in the season while improving its overall record to 16-3.  Malone, meanwhile, dropped to 8-10 overall after enduring a Mayors' Cup defeat for the fifth straight season.

The two teams combined to scorch the Osborne Hall nets with 29 made three-pointers.  Malone knocked down 13 of 31 (41.9%) attempts from three-point range while Walsh hit 16 of 22 (72.7%) treys, incluidng an incredible 10 of 12 (83.3%) shots from beyond the arc in the second half.

The Pioneers hit seven out of their first 10 field-goal attempts to build the early 19-point lead just over six minutes into the contest.  Forward Cory Veldhuizen helped fuel the early surge by draining a pair of three-pointers, converting a three-point play and then sinking a jumper.  Forward Che Richardson also connected on a pair of three-point baskets during the quick start and guard Isiah Elliott sent the home crowd into a frenzy when he capped the early scoring run with an emphatic two-handed dunk.

Walsh re-grouped following a timeout and then fought back into the contest late in the first half, trimming the deficit to just seven points at intermission after outscoring Malone 8-0 over the final three minutes of the opening stanza.

A three-pointer by Cavalier guard Cameron Mitchell gave Walsh its first lead of the game at 55-54 just over three minutes into the second half.  The two teams then battled back and forth as the final 20 minutes of the contest featured five ties and seven lead changes.  The game was knotted at 77-77 with five minutes to go before Walsh took the lead for good on a three-pointer from guard Ryan Vanderhost.  Baskets by Richards twice pulled Malone to within one in the next few moments but the hosts were unable to pull even as Walsh hit four of four three-pointers and eight of 10 free throws over the final five minutes to seal the victory.

In all, Walsh racked up 58 second-half points on 18 of 29 (62.1%) shooting from the field.  Over the course of the game, the Cavs connected on 32 of 60 (53.3%) field goals and 19 of 31 (61.3%) foul shots to go with their pin-point accuracy from beyond the arc.  Malone countered by connecting on 29 of its 64 (45.3%) total shots and hitting 23 of 24 (95.8%) free throws.

Elliott led the way for the Pioneers with 25 points to go along with team bests in rebounds (9), assists (5) and steals (2).  Richardson tossed in a career-high 24 points while pulling down eight rebounds.  Veldhuizen tallied 19 points while guard Eric Coblentz netted 12 points before fouling out late in the second half.

Forward Ron Kinney paced five Cavaliers in double-figures, racking up a game-high 29 points after knocking down an incredible seven of eight three-pointers.  Guard Rian Burrell added 19 points and five assists.  Forward L.J. Sutton totaled 17 points and 10 boards while guard Brad DuPont registered 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Malone will be back in action on Saturday afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. contest at Notre Dame College (4-11 overall).  Pioneer fans can catch all the action on the Malone Sports Network (radio broadcast on WNPQ  95.9 FM and streaming live on the internet at http://www.thelight959.com).  NDC will also provide live statistics: http://www.sidearmstats.com/ndc/mbball/index.htm