The Malone University men's basketball team sank 13 three-pointers on Saturday afternoon en route to a lopsided 85-62 Great Midwest Athletic Conference road victory at Ohio Valley University.

Malone fell behind 4-0 at the onset of Saturday's game before rattling off eight straight points on a jumper by forward Nate Sheppard and a pair of three-pointers by guard Christian Graves.

OVU quickly knotted the score at 8-8 before Sheppard and Graves went back to work.  The duo combined to score the game's next 11 points and put Malone in front 19-8 six and a half minutes into the contest. 

The Fighting Scots were unable to recover from this early Pioneer surge as Malone held a lead throughout the remainder of the afternoon.  OVU pulled to within 28-22 with a little over six minutes remaining in the opening period before the visitors responded with six straight points.

The Pioneers headed to the locker room at halftime with a 36-27 advantage.  The Fighting Scots tallied the first two baskets of the final stanza to cut the deficit to 36-31, but it was all Pioneers from there as Malone connected on seven of 14 three-pointers and 14 of 16 foul shots over the final 20 minutes to pull away for their third win in the last four games.

Malone improved to 8-9 overall and 2-3 in the G-MAC while OVU remained winless on the season, slipping to 0-16 and 0-5 in conference play.

Game Highlights
-Overall, Malone converted on 45% (28 of 62) of its field goals, 43% (13 of 30) of its treys and 70% (16 of 23) of its free throws
-OVU shot 42% (26 of 62) from the floor, 32% (eight of 25) from beyond the arc, and just 33.3% (two of six) from the charity stripe
-Saturday's contest marked the fifth straight game (and tenth time this year) that Malone made 10 or more three-pointers
-The Pioneers enjoyed a 42-34 edge in total rebounds and out-scored Ohio Valley 14-4 in second-chance points
-MU also scored 25 points off 20 Fighting Scot turnovers

Malone Individual Highlights
-Sheppard and Graves combined for 25 of Malone's 36 points in the first half
-Sheppard finished the afternoon with a season-high 21 points.  He also grabbed nine rebounds and handed out five assists
-Graves connected on five three-pointers and ended the day with 19 points, five rebounds and two steals
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half.  Spotleson hit a total of four treys and snagged six boards
-Forward Djuro Pantos notched 10 points and nine rebounds
-Guard Ty Jordan posted eight assists, five points, four rebounds and three steals

OVU Individual Highlights
-Aleksandar Djordjevic notched a team-high 14 points.  He also posted five rebounds, five assists and two steals
-Avery Williams added 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals

Up Next:
The Pioneers will conclude their five-game stretch of contests away from Osborne Hall on Thursday with a 7:00 p.m. G-MAC contest at Cedarville University.