The Malone University men's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday night at Davis & Elkins College as the Pioneers fell to the Senators 86-71 in their final game of the regular season. Malone finished the campaign 14-12 overall and 6-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. By virtue of their loss, the Pioneers locked themselves into the #4 seed in the upcoming G-MAC Tournament. They will await the results of this Saturday's conference games to determine who they will meet in the opening-round of the Championship beginning later next week.
 
A string of four straight possessions resulting in points gave the Pioneers an early 11-5 advantage through the first three minutes. The six-point lead, which proved to be Malone's largest lead of the game, quickly evaporated into an 11-11 tie just 90 seconds later. The two squads exchanged buckets over the next several minutes before five straight points by the Senators gave them a 30-21 lead with five minutes left in the first half.
 
A trio of treys from junior point guard Ty Jordan over the remainder of the frame helped Malone slash its deficit to 39-36 going into the intermission. The two teams posted nearly identical shooting figures, Malone (13-30), Davis & Elkins (13-31), in an evenly matched first 20 minutes. The lone difference came on D&E's seven three-pointers compared to Malone's six.
 
The three-point gap was quickly closed on a triple from senior Christian Graves in the opening moments of the second stanza that tied the game at 39-39. Another three by Nate Sheppard moments later cut a separate deficit to 45-44 before Davis & Elkins began to pull away. Eight straight points from the Senators swelled their lead to 53-44 before Ben Evans ended the run with a baseline jumper and Jordan trimmed the score to 53-49 with another three-ball.
 
Davis & Elkins responded with another lengthy scoring run (13-3) to extend its lead to 66-52 with eight minutes left to play before the Pioneers began to fight their way back into the game with a 13-4 spurt of their own. Christian Graves' second three-pointer of the run cut the Senators lead to 70-65 with five and a half minutes to play.
 
D&E answered with yet another solid stretch to finally put the game out of reach as the Pioneers shot just 2-of-9 from the field the rest of the way. The 16-6 run over the final four minutes gave the Senators an 86-71 senior day victory and spoiled Malone's longest win streak in three seasons.
 
Game Highlights
-Both teams hit a dozen three-pointers in the contest. Malone finished 12-of-33 (36.4%) while the hosts were 12-for-32 (37.5%).
-Malone, who came into the game ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation in three-pointers per game, has now hit 11 or more threes in the 13 of the last 16 games.
-Davis & Elkins, one of the top-10 rebounding teams in the nation, grabbed 43 rebounds compared to 35 for Malone. The Senators pulled down 17 offensive boards and outscored Malone 21-13 on second chances.
-The Senators also outscored the Pioneers 14-0 in the fast break and 28-12 in the paint.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Ty Jordan tied a season-high with 26 points to go along with four assists. He connected on 6-of-10 three-point attempts and added a season-high eight rebounds.
-Christian Graves tossed in 16 points and three assists. He connected on four of nine tries from downtown.
-Nate Sheppard tallied 11 points and six rebounds
-Mitchell Spotleson chipped in with nine points and seven boards.
-Daylan Haynie dished out a game-high six assists.
 
Davis & Elkins Individual Highlights
-Kevin Bracy-Davis, the G-MAC's leading scorer at 21.2 ppg, tallied 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four assists in his final home contest.
-Fellow senior Wesley Sprinkle drained seven three-pointers, including two late in the second half, on his way to 23 points.
-G-MAC leading rebounder Rickenjee Bellevue (11.7 rpg) collected 12 boards, 15 points, and three blocked shots.
 
Up Next:
Malone opens up the first round of the G-MAC Tournament next Thursday, March 2nd in Owensboro Kentucky. The Pioneers will play either Cedarville or Trevecca Nazarene at 2:30 pm ET (1:30 pm CT).