The Malone University men's basketball team fell behind early and was never able to fully recover on Friday in a 75-58 loss to Ohio Dominican University at Gannon University's Gary Miller Classic.

The Pioneers, now 2-4 overall, will move on to Saturday's 5:30 p.m. Consolation Game against Lake Erie College.  Ohio Dominican, meanwhile, improved to 3-1 with the win and will advance to the tournament's 7:30 p.m. Championship on Saturday where they will face the host Golden Knights, who defeated LEC in Friday's other opening-round game by a final tally of 83-77.

The Pioneers trailed 16-4 in the early going on Friday after committing four turnovers over the first eight minutes and connecting on just one of their first nine shot attempts.  Malone refused to surrender over the remainder of the contest but could never dig out of its early hole.

Following their early shooting struggles, the Pioneers would convert on 10 of 21 (47.6%) field-goal tries over the final 12 minutes of the first half and head to the locker room at the break trailing by a 40-29 margin.

The Panthers, who will join Malone in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference next season, opened up their largest lead of the game at 56-36 with 13 minutes to go in the final stanza.  Malone once again rallied, using a 13-2 scoring run to pull within 58-49 with nine and a half minutes remaining.  Forwards Mitchell Spotleson and Djuro Pantos each accounted for five points during the surge while guard Nate Sheppard add a three-pointer.

Unfortunately, the Pioneers were unable to close the gap any further the rest of the way as the Panthers responded with a 10-3 scoring run of their own to put the game out of reach.

Game Highlights
-Malone trailed 38-32 in total rebounds, but the Pioneers did grab 13 offensive boards that led to 15 second-chance points
-ODU shot over 50% (29 of 57) from the field while Malone connected on 37% (21 of 57) of its attempts.
-Neither team fared well at the foul line as the Pioneers made just eight of 17 (47.1%) free throws while the Panthers were seven of 11 (64%) at the stripe
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Sheppard tossed in a team-high 12 points while grabbing five rebounds
-Guards Ty Jordan and Daylan Haynie each notched 10 points
-Spotleson registered eight points, five rebounds and three assists
-Forward Chris Johnson contributed seven points and six rebounds in just 17 minutes off the bench
 
Ohio Dominican Individual Highlights
-Forward Hasan Varence led five ODU players in double figures with 13 points.  He also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
-Forward Mike DeLeon notched 10 points and eight boards
 
Up Next:
Malone will take on Lake Erie College in the Gary Miller Classic Consolation Game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.