The Malone University men's basketball team opened up its stretch of five straight road games by notching its first-ever Great Midwest Athletic Conference win on Thursday night with a convincing 70-49 victory at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee.

The first seven minutes of the match-up were closely contested with one tie and four lead changes.  The Trojans held an early 12-8 advantage before five straight points from Pioneer forward Nate Sheppard put the visitors in front 13-12.  A jumper by Trojan guard Devin Whitfield put Trevecca on top 14-13 with 13 minutes to go in the period, but the hosts would then go without a made field goal over the next eight minutes as a 14-1 Malone surge gave the Pioneers a 27-15 lead.  Senior guard Christian Graves tallied eight of the Pioneers' 14 points during the run, connecting on a lay-up and a pair of attempts from long range.

A three-pointer by Trevecca's Michael Thompson finally brought the hosts' drought to a close with just under five minutes to go in the opening period.  The Trojans would pull to within seven moments later before the Pioneers headed to the locker room at intermission holding a 33-22 advantage.

TNU would inch to within 10 on three separate occasions in the final stanza but was unable to cut the deficit to single digits as Malone sank nearly 57% (17 of 30) of its shot attempts in the second half to pull away for the victory.

The Pioneers improved to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the G-MAC with the win while Trevecca Nazarene slipped to 5-12 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Game Highlights
-The Pioneers shot 47.5% (29 of 61) from the field over the course of the evening and made 12 of 29 (41.4%) three-pointers on the night.  Thursday's game marked the seventh time this season that the Pioneers connected on 10 or more attempts from beyond the arc
-Trevecca Nazarene's 49 points marked the fewest Malone had allowed in a game since limiting Ohio Dominican University to 47 in a home victory last February.  The Trojans shot just 36.5% (19 of 52) from the floor, including 24.0% (six of 25) from three-point range
-Malone held a 40-29 advantage in total rebounds and turned 10 offensive boards into 14 second-chance points
-Neither team fared well at the foul line as TNU made just five of 13 (38.5%) free throws while Malone attempted just two shots from the charity stripe, missing both
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Guard Ty Jordan hit four treys and finished with a game-high 18 points.  Jordan also handed out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and tallied two steals
-In his first start of the season, Graves hit five three-pointers and posted his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.  The senior also registered three assists and grabbed two steals in 34 minutes of action
-Sheppard tallied 11 points to extend his streak of hitting double figures in every game so far this season
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson added eight points and six rebounds
 
Trevecca Nazarene Highlights
-Guard Donovan Donaldson tallied 15 points on four of eight shooting from long range
-Sebastian Petty finished with 10 points and five boards in 22 minutes off the bench
-Whitfield added eights points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
Up Next:
Malone will continue its road trip as it heads two hours north to Owensboro, Kentucky for a G-MAC match-up with Kentucky Wesleyan College on Saturday.  Tip-off is slated for 3:15 p.m. CST (4:15 p.m. EST).  Fans can listen to the game live on ESPN 990 AM or at www.espn990.com/listen.php