Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team pocketed an impressive 104-64 home win over Ohio Christian University in Osborne Hall Tuesday night in the Pioneers' season-opening contest.

After opening up a 14-point halftime lead at 46-32, Malone continued to extend its lead throughout the second half, leading by as many as 44 points, before closing out with the 40-point non-conference win.

As a team, the Pioneers tossed in a solid 54.9% (39-71) of their field goal attempts and no one gave more to that cause than guard Christian Graves whose sharp shooting, at 8-for-11 from the field and a blistering 7-for-10 from three-point range, produced a game-high 26 points in 29 minutes of action. His point total was just one point off his career high of 27 from last season and the seven treys tied his career best from a year ago. Graves also had four rebounds and an assist in the contest.

Point guard Isiah Elliott, playing in his first regular-season contest since suffering an ACL injury with seven games remaining in the 2012-13 campaign, tallied 13 points, three assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block.

Center Daniel Wise gave a strong effort off the bench with 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-3 FT), seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in 13 minutes of play.  Guards Che Richardson and Brandon Bapst also hit the twin-figure scoring mark with 12 and 10 points, respectively.  Richardson also contributed a game-high nine rebounds.

Center Brian Stone was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and posted nine points on the night while forward Zach Wasson notched seven points (3-4 FG, 1-1 FT) and six boards.

The Trailblazers, who fell to 3-5 overall on the season, were paced in scoring by Ernie McCoy who tossed in 11 points followed by Evin Bartlett and JJ Smith who recorded nine points each. Lawrence Pearson and Wesley Russell led OCU on the boards with four rebounds apiece.

Malone's 54.9% effort from the floor bettered OCU's 37.7% (23-61) while the Pioneers' 37.0% (10-27) from three-point-range also held the advantage over the visitors' 31.8% (7-22).  Malone also grabbed a decisive edge in rebounds by a 44-32 margin.  At the foul line, the Pioneers converted 16 of 20 attempts for 80.0% while OCU hit just 11 of 18 for 61.1%.

Malone will be back in action on Saturday when the squad travels to the University of Indianapolis (IN), currently 2-0 on the season, for a 7:30 p.m. contest.  NOTE:  This game was originally scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start but was moved to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate a home Indianapolis football playoff game.

Live stats, live video and live audio will be available for this contest.