Archived Video Broadcast

The Malone University men's basketball team dropped its Great Midwest Athletic Conference contest at home to Davis & Elkins College on Saturday afternoon by a final tally of 85-77.

The Pioneers took a 45-40 edge to the locker room at intermission before the visiting Senators fought back, outscoring Malone 45-32 over the final 20 minutes.

The Pioneers took a 70-68 lead on a Mitchell Spotleson lay-up with a little more than three minutes to play in the second half.  However, Malone would go without a field goal over the next two and a half minutes as Davis & Elkins used a 12-1 run to build a 80-71 advantage with just under a minute to play.

The Pioneers pulled to within 80-74 moments later, but would get no closer the rest way as the Senators connected on six of eight free throws in the final minute to preserve the victory.

Malone slipped to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in the G-MAC with the defeat while D & E improved to 6-9 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

Game Highlights
-The Senators charged out to an 8-0 lead early on. Malone responded with a 9-3 run before taking its first lead at 16-15 on a Brandon Bapst lay-up with less than 12 minutes remaining in the first half
-After connecting on 53% of its field goals in the first half, including nine of 16 (56.3%) three pointers, Malone shot just 33% in the final stanza, making just four of its final 16 (25%) tries from beyond the three-point arc
-The Senators went to the foul line 24 times in the second half, making 17 (70.8%).  Overall, the visitors connected on 20 of 27 (74.1%) free throws while Malone made 10 of 16 (62.5%) from the charity stripe
-Davis & Elkins enjoyed a 42-33 edge in total rebounds, including a 13-9 advantage on the offensive glass
-The Senators outscored Malone 34-24 in the paint
-Malone notched 15 points off 10 D & E turnovers

Malone Individual Highlights
-Guard Nate Sheppard hit four treys and finished with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds.  Sheppard has hit double figures in every game this season for the Pioneers
-Spotleson knocked down three treys and ended the afternoon with 15 points
-Guard Ty Jordan also made three attempts from long range, posting 12 points, nine assists and two steals
-Guard Christian Graves added nine points and four assists in 22 minutes off the bench
-Forward Chris Johnson contributed nine points

Davis & Elkins Individual Highlights
-Forward Kevin Bracy-Davis notched 24 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal to pace the Senators
-Guard Kevin Simpson came off the bench to tally 15 points and six assists
-Forward Rickenjee Bellevue also made a substantial impact off the bench with 13 points and eight boards

Up Next:
The Pioneers will begin a stretch of five straight games away from Osborne Hall on Thursday evening when the squad travels to Nashville, Tennessee for an 8:00 p.m. CST (9:00 p.m. EST) contest against Trevecca Nazarene University.