The Malone University men's basketball team rallied down the stretch on Saturday night, fighting back from a 74-70 second-half deficit to register a 99-85 victory at Kentucky State University.

Guards Ty Jordan and Daylan Haynie each posted career-high point totals in the contest.  Jordan finished the night with 35 points, 23 of which came in the second half.  Haynie, meanwhile, tossed in 22 points on nine of 12 shooting from the field.

The Pioneers charged out to a 23-10 lead seven minutes into the contest, but the Thorobreds methodically closed the gap, pulling to within 39-37 on a three-pointer with a little less than four minutes to go in the opening stanza.  The visitors then responded, closing out the period on a 10-2 run to take a 49-39 lead into the locker room at intermission. 

Kentucky State would get within two in the opening minutes of the second half before a flagrant foul resulted in an ejection for the Thorobreds' Austin Sherrell.  Three straight made free throws by Jordan followed, stretching the Pioneer lead back to seven at 62-55. 

After the two teams traded baskets (a dunk by KSU's Kevin Hayes and a trey from the Pioneers' Nate Sheppard), the Thorobreds went on a 14-2 scoring run to take a 71-67 advantage with just over eight minutes to play. 

A three-pointer from Pioneer forward Djuro Pantos would pull Malone back within one before a trey from KSU's Felix Wilson restored the Thorobreds' four-point edge.

However, the hosts' lead would be short-lived as Malone responded with nine straight points.  An old-fashioned three-point play by Haynie trimmed the deficit down to one before Jordan put the Pioneers in front for good, scoring in the paint off a pass from forward Mitchell Spotleson.  Haynie and Spotleson would then each sink a pair of free throws on back-to-back trips down the floor to put Malone on top 79-74 with a little less than six minutes to play.

The Thorobreds would keep things close over the next few minutes, but were unable to pull even down the stretch.  Thanks in large part to its strong free-throw shooting, Malone outscored Kentucky State 16-6 over the final three and a half minutes, putting the finishes touches on a hard-fought non-conference road victory.

The win improved the Pioneers' overall record to 3-1 while Kentucky State dropped to 0-3.

Game Highlights
-Malone connected on 28 of its 30 free throw attempts on Saturday night which marked one of the best performances at the line in recent program history; The 28 made foul shots were the most in a single game since 2015 when the team hit 29 of 32 charity tosses in an overtime loss to Walsh;  Saturday's 93.3% accuracy at the line also marked the program's best single-game free-throw percentage (when taking 10 or more attempts) since 2012 when the Pioneers went 23 of 24 (95.8%) at the stripe
-The Pioneers' starting five accounted for 94 of the team's 99 points on Saturday
-Malone shot over 58% from the field in the first half and buried seven of its 13 three-pointers over the first 20 minutes; The Pioneers went just two of eight from long range in the second half, but still managed to shoot 54.4% overall for the evening
-Kentucky State also shot the ball well, knocking down 49.2% of its overall attempts, 38.5% of its three-pointers (five of 13) and 80% (16 of 20) of its foul shots
-Malone held a 35-29 edge in total rebounds
-The Thorobreds outscored the Pioneers 18-4 in fast-break points
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Jordan's 35 points marked the highest individual total for a Malone men's basketball player since Isiah Elliott racked up 37 points in an 84-77 win over Northwood University in December of 2013; The last 30-point performance for a Pioneer came in 2015 when Ben Haraway dropped 31 against Walsh
-Jordan drained 15 of 17 foul shots on the evening while making nine of his 17 field-goal attempts; He also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out six assists and grabbed two steals
-Haynie went nine of 12 from the field, making one of two three-pointers and all three of his free throws on his way to his career-high total of 22 points
-Pantos finished with 18 points, two shy of his career high.  He also grabbed a season-high 10 boards for the second double-double of his career
-Sheppard totaled 13 points and seven rebounds;  The redshirt junior has now reached double-digits in scoring in 30 of his last 31 games (dating back to last season)
-Spotleson finished the night with six points and four rebounds
 
Kentucky State Individual Highlights
-Hayes registered a team-high 23 points
-Ray Croon tossed in 15 points and grabbed five rebounds
-Reggie Breeden notched 13 points, four rebounds and three assists before fouling out in the final minutes
 
Up Next:
Malone will be back in action at Osborne Hall on Tuesday as the squad hosts a 5:00 p.m. contest against Alice Lloyd College.