The Malone University men's basketball team improved to 5-1 on the season after registering a gritty 77-76 home victory over visiting West Virginia State University on Saturday evening.

The Yellow Jackets, who trailed by as many 15 points in the early stages of the second half, used a 17-0 run to pull ahead 62-58 at the midway point of the final stanza.  Although West Virginia State went just four-for-16 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, the visitors found their shooting touch during the second-half surge, going a perfect four-for-four from long range during the stretch. 

A three-pointer by Pioneer guard Ty Jordan ended the Malone drought before the Yellow Jackets' Glen Abram gave West Virginia State its largest lead of the night at 66-61 after being fouled on a made trey and then converting on the free throw.

With his team trailing by five, Jordan came through once again on Malone's next possession, draining another three.  The clutch bucket helped jump start a 12-0 Pioneer scoring run that put the hosts back in front 73-66 with a little less than seven minutes to play.

Malone was not able to put the contest out of reach, though as the hosts were held off the scoreboard over the next three and half minutes.  A pair of made free throws and a lay-up allowed West Virginia State to chisel the deficit to 73-70 with three and a half minutes remaining.  The Pioneers' Mitchell Spotleson and the Yellow Jackets' Alex Osborn would each sink a pair of free throws in the next few moments to keep the margin at three.  Following a Malone timeout, Pioneer guard Nate Sheppard would score off a pass from Jordan to put Malone in front 77-72 with 2:15 to go.

Notably, Sheppard's lay-up at the rim would turn out to be Malone's final points of the evening as the Pioneer defense clamped down the rest of the way. 

West Virginia State cut the deficit to 77-75 on a trey from Jahlen Greene near the two-minute mark.

Following a missed three-pointer by the Pioneers, the Yellow Jackets' Isaiah Noel went to foul line where he split a pair of attempts with a little more than a minute to play, cutting the deficit to just one at 77-76.

Both teams would have several opportunities to score in the final 60 seconds.  Malone's only miss of the night at the foul line came on the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 10.7 to go.  Moments later, the Yellow Jackets came up empty on two free throws with 7.8 seconds to play.

Malone would grab the rebound off the second missed free throw but a quick steal by West Virginia State's Ernest Jenkins would give the visitors one last chance.  Down by one, the Yellow Jackets looked to go inside, but Malone forward Rholy Mouliom got his hand on the ball for a tie-up.  With the arrow pointing the Pioneers' way on the alternating possession, Mouliom was credited with the steal with just 1.9 to go.  Malone then ran out to clock to preserve the non-conference win and snap West Virginia State's four-game winning streak.

The victory gives the Pioneers their first 5-1 start since the 2010-11 campaign.

West Virginia State, meanwhile, slipped to 4-2 on the year.
 
Game Highlights
-The Yellow Jackets' three-point shooting keyed their second-half comeback as West Virginia State hit 10 of 20 attempts from downtown over the final 20 minutes
-Malone went just three-of-15 from long range in the second half
-The Pioneers held a 48-40 advantage in total rebounds and outscored the Yellow Jackets 38-22 in the paint.
-47 of West Virginia State's 76 points came from their bench
-Malone handed out 18 assists on 29 made baskets and committed just 10 turnovers against the Yellow Jackets' pressure defense

Malone Individual Highlights
-Sheppard notched his third contest of the year with 20 or more points as he finished with a game-high 24; The redshirt junior also grabbed seven rebounds and two steals
-Jordan once again filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals
-Spotleson tallied his first double-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists
-Forward Djuro Pantos registered six points, 10 boards and four assists
-Mouliom and freshman Jaret Majestic each tallied five points
 
West Virginia State Individual Highlights
-Greene came off the bench to lead four Yellow Jacket players in double figures with 15 points.  All 15 came from downtown as he went five-of-10 from beyond the arc.  Greene also grabbed eight boards and dished out four assists
-Abram posted 14 points
-Forward Pat Johnson-Agwu contributed 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks
-Guard Isaiah Noel added 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals
 
Up Next:
Malone will open Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday with a 6:00 p.m. home contest against Alderson Broaddus University.