Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team earned a convincing 92-70 non-conference home victory over Waynesburg University (PA) Tuesday evening and one Pioneer reached a milestone for his career.  With the win, Malone improved to 2-1 overall on the season while Waynesburg fell to 3-2 on the year.

As the Pioneers were en route to their 22-point win, with about five minutes left in the contest, senior forward Cory Veldhuizen eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career.   Needing 22 points to reach the plateau, Veldhuizen tallied his 23rd point of the night on a layup basket with 5:59 left in the contest.  His final basket on the night came a few minutes later, which gave him a game-high 25 points, and put his career total at 1,003 points, ranking him 48th on Malone's all-time list. 

Against a Waynesburg team that was 3-1 heading into the contest, the Pioneers never trailed.  Yet as Malone slightly pulled away in the middle of the first period, with a lead as large as 13 (27-14 at 10:06), the visitors fought back to trim the lead to 35-30 with just over two minutes left in the half.

After posting a 41-32 halftime lead, Malone improved its second-half shooting percentage from 39% in the first half to 59% in the final stanza and pulled away for the 92-70 win.  Waynesburg got to within nine points, at 60-51, with 11:40 remaining before the Pioneers went on a 32-19 run to close out the contest.

Just behind Velduizen's 25 points (11-16 FG, 2-4 3FG, 1-1 FT), guard Isiah Elliott tallied 24 points (8-15 FG, 2-4 3FG, 6-7 FT) while dishing out a team-best (tied) five assists and grabbing four rebounds. Veldhuizen collected seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.  In addition, Veldhuizen, with 492 career rebounds, needs just eight more boards to reach the 500-rebound plateau.

Center Daniel Wise also posted twin-figure scoring with 10 points while also yanking down five rebounds.  Wise was perfect in shooting on the night, going 2-2 from the field and 6-of-6 at the line in 14 minutes of play. Guard Che Richardson, who scored seven points, pocketed a game-high nine rebounds.

Malone shot 50.0% (36-72) from the field while the Jackets sank 46.7% (28-60).  The Pioneers hit seven of 25 three-point attempts (28.0%) to Waynesburg's one of 12 (8.3%).  While each team netted 13 points at the free throw line, the percentage edge went to the visitors as they had 16 attempts (81.3%) to Malone's 19 tries (68.4%).  The Pioneers held a strong upper hand on the battle of the boards by a 46-28 margin.

Waynesburg was led by Jason Propst who tallied team-highs in both points, with 18, and in rebounds, with five.

Malone will be back in action tomorrow night (Wed.) when the squad plays an exhibition game at the University of Akron (JAR Arena) at 7:00 p.m.  Live stats, live video and live audio are available for this game.   General admission tickets may be purchased for $5.00 at the Malone Sports Information Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday.  Tickets are $10.00 if purchased at the door.