The Malone University men's basketball team suffered a tough 85-53 defeat to Hillsdale College on Friday evening in the first game of the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge.
The season-opening tournament is being hosted this weekend at Walsh University and, in addition to Malone, Hillsdale and Walsh, also includes Ohio Valley University.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 17-7 lead during Friday's contest thanks to three consecutive three pointers. Senior forward
Brandon Bapst nailed the first trey to put Malone on top 11-7. Junior guard
Ty Jordan then nailed back-to-back shots from long range to give the Pioneers an early 10-point advantage. Hillsdale chipped away at the deficit before pulling in front 24-23 on a Ryan Badowski trey with a little less than eight minutes to go in the first half.
Malone went to the locker room at intermission trailing by a manageable 36-30 margin. However, the Chargers then put the contest out of reach with a 20-2 scoring run midway through the second half.
Hillsdale, in its final year of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference membership before joining the Great Midwest Athletic Conference next season, shot over 56% from the field (34 of 60), knocked down 40% (12 of 30) of its attempts from long range, and held a 43-28 edge in total rebounds.
Jordan and redshirt sophomore guard
Nate Sheppard both posted 12 points to lead the way for Malone. In his first game for the Pioneers since transferring from Hesston College, Jordan connected on four of his six three-point attempts while also grabbing three rebounds and dishing out two assists. Sheppard hit a pair of treys while grabbing four boards.
Bapst and freshman guard
Warren Yates both added six points while freshman forward
Chris Johnson totaled five points and five rebounds in just 10 minutes off the bench.
Badowski finished with a game-high 25 points for the Chargers after knocking down nine of 12 attempts from the field, including six of nine three-pointers.
The Pioneers will look to rebound on Saturday as the squad takes on rival Walsh in the 53rd annual Mayors' Cup. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Walsh's Alumni Arena.
