The Malone University men's basketball team suffered a 98-75 defeat on Saturday afternoon in its Great Midwest Athletic Conference contest at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

The Pioneers fell behind 15-8 seven minutes into the game, but then used a 12-2 surge later in the period to pull ahead 26-24 with a little less than eight minutes remaining in the opening stanza. 

The two teams would trade buckets over the next few possessions before a Nate Sheppard lay-up knotted the contest at 30-30 with five minutes remaining on the first-half clock.  However, KWC, which entered Saturday's match-up with a 38-game home winning streak, then took command.

The host Panthers closed out the first half on a 13-5 scoring run to take a 43-35 lead into the locker room.  Kentucky Wesleyan then carried the momentum over to the start of the second half as the Panthers put the contest out of reach by outscoring Malone 30-10 over the first 10 minutes of the final stanza.

The Panthers, who were among those receiving votes in the most recent NCAA Division II National Poll, picked up their 12th consecutive victory of the season, improving to 14-2 overall and 3-0 in the G-MAC.  Malone slipped to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play with the defeat.

Game Highlights
-The Panthers shot 51.4% (37 of 72) for the game while making five of 13 (385%) three-pointers. Malone countered by hitting 29 of 64 (45.3%) shots from the field, including 11 of its 36 (30.6%) attempts from beyond the three-point arc
-Malone made all six of its free throws on the afternoon, but KWC took advantage of its frequent trips to the charity stripe, sinking 19 of 25 (76%) foul shots
-The Pioneers committed a season-high 22 turnovers and the Panthers made them pay as the hosts scored 31 points off Malone miscues
-Although total rebounds were nearly even (37 for KWC, 36 for MU), the Panthers outscored the Pioneers by a 52-28 margin in the paint
-Malone tallied 20 assists on 29 made baskets while Kentucky Wesleyan notched 21 assists on their 37 made field goals

Malone Individual Highlights
-Sheppard tallied a team-high 18 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists.  The sophomore continued his scoring streak of reaching double digits in every game this year
-Forward Djuro Pantos posted a season-high 14 points.  The junior from Belgrade, Serbia sank four of five field goals, went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and made all four of his free throws.  Pantos also grabbed five boards and handed out two assists in just 21 minutes
-Guard Ty Jordan notched 11 points, four assists and three rebounds
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson tallied seven points, four rebounds, and three assists
-Forward Ben Evans contributed seven points and four rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench

Kentucky Wesleyan Individual Highlights
-Jordan Jacks paced six Panthers in double figures with a game-high 19 points
-Ken-Jah Bosley added 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals
-Malek Harris tallied 13 points, seven boards and three assists

Up Next:
The Pioneers continue their five-game stretch away from Osborne Hall on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. non-conference contest at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.