The Malone University men's basketball team fell on the road to the University of Findlay on Saturday afternoon by a final tally of 89-85.

The Oilers, currently listed among those receiving votes in the NCAA Division II National Poll, scored the first seven points of the contest.  Malone quickly answered back, using an 11-3 scoring run to pull ahead 11-10, five minutes into the game.

Senior guard Ty Jordan, who finished the afternoon with a career-high 41 points, fueled the early comeback with a pair of three-pointers and a lay-up.

After trading buckets over the next few minutes, Malone used another 11-2 spurt to increase its advantage to 25-18 midway through the opening period.

The Oilers would counter with five straight points to cut the deficit to down to two. 

Malone would go up by five on a dunk by guard Nate Sheppard with under a minute to play in the opening period before Findlay's Taren Sullivan drained a late three-pointer, sending the two teams to the locker room with the Pioneers in front by a 38-36 margin.

After scoring 20 of Malone's first 31 points in the contest, Jordan picked up right where he left off at the start of the second half, netting the Pioneers' first 10 points of the second period to push the Malone advantage to 48-43.

Findlay's Elijah Kahlig would respond, hitting three consecutive treys to give the hosts a 52-48 edge, their first advantage since the early stages of the game.

The lead would exchange hands several times over the next few minutes before a Jordan free throw tied the contest at 68-68 with 5:28 to play. 

Unfortunately for the Pioneers, a nearly three-minute scoreless stretch followed as Findlay pushed its lead out to 77-68 following a 9-0 run.

Sheppard would end the Pioneer scoring drought with a three-point play but the Oilers' Martyce Kimbrough would sink a jumper and a three-pointer on back-to-back trips down the floor to increase the Findlay lead to 82-71 with under two minutes to go.

Jordan and Sheppard would combine to score 12 points in the final 40 seconds to keep the Pioneers within striking distance.  But the Oilers sank their final six free throw attempts to hold off Malone's comeback hopes and preserve the win.

Malone dropped to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with the defeat while Findlay improved to 9-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Game Highlights
-The Oilers entered the contest with a record of 223-10 on their home court over the last 15 years.   However, one of those 10 losses for Findlay at Croy Gymnasium was against the Pioneers, a 74-71 defeat in 2011.
-Both teams shot the ball extremely well in the second half.  Findlay knocked down 18 of its 26 shot attempts (69%) in the second period, including seven of 14 from long range.  Malone, meanwhile, drained 16 of 26 (61.5%) field goals, including 8 of 14 from three-point range over the final 20 minutes
-Overall, the Pioneers shot 53.6% from the floor, 44.8% from distance and 66.7% at the line
-The Oilers countered by making 52.5% of their field goals, 40.6% of their three-pointers and 70.6% of their foul shots
-Findlay tallied 15 points off 15 Pioneer turnovers
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-The Pioneers' Eric Coblentz hit nine three-pointers during the 2011 victory at Croy Gymnasium and Jordan nearly matched the total on Saturday, hitting eight of 13 attempts from beyond the arc on his way to the career-high 41 points
-Jordan also grabbed six rebounds and three steals
-Jordan's 41 points are tied for the fifth-most in Great Midwest history and it is the highest single-game point total for a Malone men's basketball player since the 2004-05 season when Shane Conwell dropped 46 points in a 120-114 overtime win against Ohio Dominican University
-Sheppard ended the afternoon with 17 points
-Forward Djuro Pantos registered 10 points, four assists and a career-high 16 rebounds
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson added eight points
 
Findlay Individual Highlights
-Kahlig paced four Oilers in double figures, finishing with 19 points
-Sullivan notched 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists
-Kimbrough totaled 15 points
-Center Alex White added 15 points and seven rebounds
 
Up Next:
Malone will host a non-conference game against Point Park University on Saturday (Dec. 16) at 6:00 pm.