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The Malone University men's basketball team notched a 73-68 home victory on Thursday night in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against Lake Erie College.

The Pioneers led 33-32 at halftime and then quickly stretched their lead to seven following consecutive three pointers by forward Mitchell Spotleson and guard Stephen O'Daniel III.  The Storm answered minutes later, using back-to-back three-pointers of their own to pull in front 46-45.

However, this one-point advantage would turn out to be Lake Erie's only lead of the second half.  Guard Jay Parker and forward Brandon Bapst fueled an 8-0 Pioneer scoring run that put the hosts in front 53-46 with nine minutes to play.

Lake Erie would pull within two points on four separate occasions in the final three minutes of the game, but Malone responded each time.  An old-fashioned three-point play by Bapst made it 68-64 with a minute and a half to go.

Following a Storm bucket, Parker drove to the hoop and scored to stretch the Malone lead back to four at 70-66 with 44 ticks remaining.  A Lake Erie jumper cut it back down to two with 30 seconds left, but the Pioneers hit three of their final four free throws to ice the 73-68 victory.

Malone Individual Highlights
-O'Daniel III notched 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half
-Spotleson registered 11 points, seven boards, two steals and two assists
-Bapst posted a season-high nine points
-Guard Christian Graves tallied eight points, a game-high eight rebounds and three assists
-Parker added eight points and seven boards
-Center Brian Stone contributed seven points and six rebounds
 
Lake Erie Individual Highlights
-Guard Andy Bosley tallied 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench
-Forwards Roy Alexander and Michael Morris each registered 11 points
-Guard Trey Howard totaled 10 points
 
Game Notes
-The Pioneers cashed in on their trips to the foul line, hitting 17 of 22 free throws
-Lake Erie, meanwhile, struggled at the stripe, converting on just four of nine attempts
-Malone also held a 42-32 advantage on the boards, including an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass
-With the win, the Pioneers avenged a 70-69 loss at Lake Erie earlier this season
 
Up Next: The Pioneers travel to NCAA Div. II #25 Ashland University on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. contest.