Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team lost a 100-90 non-conference decision on the road to fellow NCAA Division II member University of Indianapolis (IN) Saturday night.

With the loss, the Pioneers dropped to 1-1 on the season while a formidable Greyhound squad, members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, stayed perfect on the year at 3-0.

In a game that saw more than its share of fouls, with 55, it was the hosts who benefitted the most in trips to the free throw line as the Pioneers committed 35 fouls.  Although Malone shot a very good 84.4% from the charity stripe, converting 27 of 32 attempts, Indianapolis attempted a whopping 51 free throws, connecting on 35 for 68.6%.

In the opening half, the two teams battled back and forth for most of the period as the Greyhounds opened up a 21-14 lead with 10:48 left in the half before the Pioneers came back to grab their final lead of the half, and game, at 35-33 with 3:43 remaining.  An 11-1 run by Indianapolis over that remaining stretch provided the hosts with a 44-36 lead at the intermission.

In the second stanza, Malone cut into the Greyhound lead early as the Pioneers trailed just 52-49 with 15:31 left in the game.  The hosts extended their edge to a dozen points at 67-55 with 10:34 left but with 8:03 remaining, the Pioneers trailed by just six points at 73-67. Indy would then open up its largest lead of the game (16 points) at 92-76 with 2:41 remaining but Malone would not give up, trimming the Greyhound lead to just eight, at 96-88 with 1:01 left in the contest.  The Pioneer were not able to pull off the comeback, though, losing by the final 10-point margin of 100-90.

Five Pioneers reached double digits in scoring as guard Isiah Elliott led the way with 20 points, including a 10-of-12 effort at the line. Elliott also dished out a game-best seven assists.

Forward Cory Veldhuizen followed with 17 points while also yanking down a team-high eight rebounds. Guard Christian Graves tossed in 13 points, which included three baskets from long range. Guard Che Richardson and center Daniel Wise tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively. Wise's shooting was perfect for the contest as he was 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line.

Indianapolis was led in scoring by Leland Brown with 23 points followed by Joe Lawson who contributed 19 points. In addition, Lawson paced the Greyhounds on the boards with a game-best nine rebounds.

Indy held the slight advantage in field goal percentage at 52.6% (30-57) to Malone's 46.4% (26-56) but the Pioneers had the upper hand from beyond the arc, connecting on 11 of 25 for 44.0%, as Indy sank just five of 14 for 35.7%.  The Greyhounds won the battle of the boards by a 42-28 margin.

Malone will be back in action on Tuesday (Nov. 26) as the squad hosts Waynesburg University (PA), which has a current record of 3-1, in an 8:00 p.m. contest.   Live stats will be available for this contest.