Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team began Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Thursday night with an 81-55 defeat at Michigan Tech University. 

Despite the loss, it was a historic evening for senior forward Cory Veldhuizen.  After reaching 1000 career points during last week's victory over Waynesburg (PA) University, Veldhuizen surpassed another milestone on Thursday against the Huskies, pulling down a game-high nine boards to become just the 25th Pioneer men's basketball player to eclipse 500 career rebounds.   Veldhuizen joins exclusive company with the accomplishment as he is now one of only 22 players in Malone men's basketball history to tally both 1000 career points and 500 career boards.

It was cold and snowy in Michigan's Upper Peninsula on Thursday but Michigan Tech managed to warm things up in SDC Gymnasium, grabbing a 42-30 halftime advantage after  shooting a blistering 62% (16 of 26) from the field and 50% (six of 12) from three-point range over the first 20 minutes.  The Huskies' hot shooting cooled some after the break and buckets by Malone forward Daniel Wise twice trimmed the MTU advantage to 11.  However, a 55-44 margin midway through the final stanza was as close as the Pioneers would get as MTU pulled away down the stretch to improve its record to 4-0 on the season (1-0 GLIAC).

Although the Pioneers (2-2 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) hit 12 of 15 free throws (80%), the visitors struggled to find their shooting touch for a majority of the evening, connecting on 20 of 57 (35%) field goals, including just three of 20 (15%) tries from beyond the three-point arc.  The Huskies countered by making 52% (28 of 54) of their shots from the floor, 43% (10 of 23) of their treys and 75% (15 of 20) of their foul shots. 

Wise drained four of seven field-goal attempts and all five of his free throws en route to matching his season high with 13 points.  Veldhuizen followed with 11 points.  Guard Isiah Elliott added 10 points and four rebounds while guard Stephen O'Daniel III contributed seven points.

Austin Armga paced Michigan Tech with 28 points and seven assists.

Malone will look to bounce back on Saturday when the squad wraps up its trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula with a 3:00 p.m. game against Northern Michigan University.  The Wildcats will provide live video, audio and stats during the contest at http://livestats.prestosports.com/northernmichigan/