Box Score

Junior Isiah Elliott poured in a career-high 33 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead the Malone University men's basketball team (6-2, 4-1 GLIAC) over Saginaw Valley State University (MI) 85-69 on Saturday afternoon in Malone's Osborne Hall.  SVSU fell to 4-3 overall and to 2-2 in the GLIAC after the loss to the Pioneers.

Elliott carried the load offensively for the Pioneers in the first half scoring 21 of his team's 34 points. He surpassed his season average of 16.7 points with 1:21 remaining in the first half with a thunderous two-handed dunk off a precise lob pass from Vince Kazmierczak to give Malone a 29-27 lead. Elliott would bring the crowd to their feet again to end the first half, beating the buzzer with a 27-foot three pointer to put Malone ahead 34-31 at halftime.

Malone's halftime adjustments tilted the game in its favor. The Pioneers opened the second half in a full court press, rattling the Saginaw Valley State guards and igniting a 20-7 run over the half's first seven minutes to increase their lead to 54-38. Junior Cory Veldhuizen, who was held scoreless in the first half, keyed the run with 10 points during the spurt.

The Cardinals would try to chip away at the lead but could climb no closer than nine points the rest of the way. Elliott would provide the crowd with one more electrifying moment skying high in the air to reject a fast break dunk attempt by Saginaw's Sterling Johnson when the Cardinals were threatening to play their way back into the ballgame.

Malone was stellar from the foul line making 23 of 27 (85.2%) to help close out the game. The Pioneers scored 51 points in the second half, largely because they went to the free-throw line 25 times in the final 20 minutes.

Saginaw Valley's Chris Webb was nearly as sensational as Elliott, scoring 31 points and hitting four of his five three-point attempts. Elliott upstaged his previous career-high of 28, which came earlier this year against Notre Dame College, by finishing 12 of 18 from the floor, 2 of 4 from long distance and 7 of 7 from the foul line to earn his 33 points. Veldhuizen scored all 13 of his points in the second half while junior Che Richardson scored 10 of his 12 in the second stanza as well.

Malone shot 29-55 (52.7%) from the floor for the game while Saginaw Valley hit on 28 of 60 (46.7%) of its attempts.

The Pioneers will next take the floor on Wednesday, Dec. 19 when they play host to Wayne State University (MI).  It will be their last game before a 10-day hiatus during the Christmas break.  Live stats will be available for this contest.