Box Score

Going up against undefeated and non-conference foe Lewis University (IL) at home on Saturday, the Malone University men's basketball team nearly handed the Flyers their first loss of the season but the visitors came from behind during the final few minutes of the contest to post a 75-71 win over the Pioneers.

During the first half, it was the hosts who were climbing back into the game after being down early, but in the final stanza the tables were turned as the Flyers found themselves trailing for most of the period, and by as many as nine points, before posting the final comeback.  With its win, Lewis stayed perfect at 7-0 overall (0-0 GLVC) while Malone dropped to 4-4 overall (2-2 GLIAC).

In the first half, Lewis jumped out to a 22-14 lead midway through the period before Malone went on a 10-0 run to go up 24-22 with 8:34 left in the half.  The Pioneers then extended that lead to 35-27 before the Flyers closed out the period on a 12-4 run to knot the score at 39-39 at the intermission.  Despite the fact that the Flyers shot 72.7% (16-22) in the first half, the Pioneers were still deadlocked with their opponent, having allowed Lewis 10 fewer attempts from the floor than they took themselves.

In the second period, Malone pulled out to three separate nine-point leads, the last of which came with 9:44 in the contest, at 61-52, before the Flyers mounted the start of their comeback, trimming their deficit to just one point, at 65-64, with 5:21 remaining.  The Pioneers bounced back over the next few minutes, though, and held a 71-66 edge with 3:21 left in the game.  But from that point, the visitors scored the final nine points of the contest to secure their 75-71 win.

Even though the Flyers attempted just 43 shots from the field for the game, they connected on 29 of them for an impressive 67.4%, which easily bested Malone's 42.6% (26-61) from the floor.  The Pioneers drilled 12 of 31 three-point attempts for 38.7% while Lewis sank four of 10 for 40%.  The visitors held a slight edge at the foul line, converting 13 of 16 for 81.3% while the hosts netted seven of nine for 77.8%.  In addition, Lewis notched a 30-22 advantage on the boards.

For Malone, guard Isiah Elliott paced four Pioneers in double-digit scoring as he tallied 18 points to go along with a team-high seven assists and three rebounds. Guard Christian Graves went 5-for-11, all from three-point range, to score 15 points in the contest while forward Cory Veldhuizen collected 13 points, a team-best six rebounds, three assists and two steals.  Guard Che Richardson also hit twin figures with 10 points to go along with four assists and a pair of rebounds.  Forward Vince Kazmierczak tallied nine points, after nailing three of four from long range.

Jeff Jarosz paced Lewis with 18 points followed by Ryan Jackson with 16 points.  Jackson led the Flyers in rebounds with a game-high 11.

Malone will next compete in an away conference game at Saginaw Valley State University (MI), which has a current record of 5-3 (1-3 GLIAC), on Thursday, January 2nd at 8:00 p.m.  Live stats, live video and live audio are available for this contest.