The Malone University men's basketball team shot a season-high 56.7% from the field Wednesday night as it rolled to a convincing 97-82 non-conference road win at Central State University. 

Senior guard Christian Graves tossed in a team-high 26 points for the Pioneers and, in the process, became the 49th player in Malone men's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.  Graves, who has overcome multiple injuries over the past four and a half years, reached the historic milestone on a lay-up with a little over five minutes remaining in the second half of Wednesday's contest.

Malone took command early on, grabbing a 17-8 advantage six minutes into the game.  The Marauders cut the deficit down to two at 20-18 moments later, but Central State would get no closer over the remainder of the contest as a 17-3 Pioneer surge put the visitors in front 37-21 with less than five minutes to play in the opening stanza.  Forwards Djuro Pantos and Nate Sheppard helped fuel the Malone scoring run, combining for 11 points during the stretch.

The Pioneers went to locker room on top 44-34 and then shot an incredible 71% (17 of 24) over the final 20 minutes to put the game out of reach.

Malone improved to 7-9 overall with the victory while CSU slipped to 6-12.

Game Highlights
-Overall, the Pioneers connected on 34 of 60 (56.7%) attempts from the field on the night, including 12 of 28 (42.9%) tries from beyond the three-point arc.  Malone has now connected on 10 or more treys in four consecutive games (and a total of nine times this season).
-Central State countered by shooting 43% (32 of 75) from the floor and 31.6% (six of 19) from deep
-Malone converted on 17 of 28 (60.7%) attempts from the foul line while the Marauders attempted 21 foul shots, making 12 (57.1%)
-The two teams both finished with 39 total rebounds.  CSU held a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass

Malone Individual Highlights
-Graves tossed in 17 of his season-high 26 points in the second half.  The senior paced five Malone players in double figures as he sank nine of 12 shots from the field, six of nine three-pointers and made both of his free throws.  He also grabbed seven rebounds and two steals
-Sheppard notched 18 points and five rebounds, extending his streak of reaching double digits in every game this year
-Pantos reached double figures for the second consecutive game as he tallied 16 points along with nine rebounds and two assists
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson tossed in 15 points and grabbed seven boards
-Guard Ty Jordan posted 14 points, a season-high 11 assists, four steals and three rebounds

Central State Individual Highlights
-Dwight Richard Jr. came off the bench to register a game-high 28 points
-Thomas Farrior recorded 18 points and eight rebounds
-Jeremy Brown filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, ten rebounds, six steals, three assists and two blocks

Up Next:
Malone will continue its five-game stretch away from Osborne Hall on Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. Great Midwest Athletic Conference contest at Ohio Valley University.