Box Score

Competing in only its second overtime contest in the past three seasons under third-year head coach Tim Walker, the Malone University men's basketball team came up just short in a 91-89 overtime thriller against visiting Cedarville University in Malone's Osborne Hall gymnasium Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Malone fell to 7-8 on the season while Cedarville improved to 8-6 overall.

With just 2.4 seconds remaining in overtime, Cedarville forward Zimmy Nwogbo banked in the game-winning lay-up off an assist from guard Zach Brown.  Following a Malone timeout, Pioneer guard Isiah Elliott launched a desperation heave from near midcourt, but his attempt was just off the mark, allowing the Yellow Jackets to secure the hard-fought win.  Cedarville was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 at the foul line in the extra frame, outscoring Malone by a narrow 15-13 margin.

After a first half in which neither team led by more than five points, Malone secured a 34-30 halftime advantage.  A three-point play by Elliott with 7:51 remaining in the second half gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the game at 65-52. However, the Yellow Jackets then stormed back into the contest as a lay-up by Cedarville guard Marcus Reineke with 3:33 to play in regulation capped a 19-5 CU scoring run, putting the visitors in front 71-70.  Malone scored on its next three possessions to pull back in front 76-72, but Cedarville then held the Pioneers scoreless over the final 1:45 of the period, knotting the game on a bucket by forward Bryan Redic and a pair of made free throws by Reineke.

Malone forward Che Richardson took a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation, but his attempt bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Malone knocked down 46.5% (33-71) of its field goal attempts while Cedarville connected on 41.5% (27-65) of its tries. From three-point range, the visitors held the edge at 35.3% (6-17) to 20.0% (3-15).  The Yellow Jackets also bettered the hosts at the line, converting 31 of 38 attempts for 81.6%, while making 11 more from the stripe than Malone, which sank 20 of 27 for 74.1%. In addition, Cedarville secured a slight 42-39 edge in rebounding.

Guard Eric Coblentz tallied a team-high 17 points to go along with three rebounds and a pair of steals. Elliott followed with 16 points and also grabbed a team-best (tied) eight rebounds and a team-high five assists. Forward Zach Bates also hit double digits with 12 points while chipping in with three rebounds.

Forward Bradson Ephraim chalked up nine points and a team-best (tied) eight rebounds while forward Zach Wasson also put up nine points to go along with three boards. In addition, Richardson tallied eight points, six rebounds and a team-best four steals.

Cedarville freshman Reineke came off the bench to score all of his game-high 25 points in the second half and overtime while Nwogbo followed with 21 points on the night. Nwogbo led the Yellow Jackets on the glass with nine rebounds.

Malone will next compete at Central State University on Wednesday in a 7:00 p.m. contest.  The game will be broadcast on WNPQ 95.9 FM and will also have a live audio stream at www.thelight959.com.