The Malone University men's basketball team will have a chance to clinch a bid to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Tournament this Wednesday, February 8th when it hosts Ohio Valley University at 7:00 pm. With a win on Wednesday, the Pioneers would qualify for their first postseason tournament since reaching the GLIAC Semifinal in 2013-14.
 
GameDay
(2/8) Malone (9-11, 3-5 G-MAC) vs. Ohio Valley (1-18, 1-7 G-MAC) - 7:00 pm
Live Video: livestream.com/maloneuniversity
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/malone/mbball
 
All-Time Series
The Pioneers won the first-ever meeting between the two teams last month

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Pioneers edged out the Fighting Scots 85-62 in their previous matchup on January 21st in Vienna, West Virginia. Malone starters Nate Sheppard (21), Mitchell Spotleson (21), Christian Graves (19), and Djuro Pantos (10) combined for 71 points while starting point guard Ty Jordan chipped in with eight assists.
• As a team, Malone connected on 13 threes and 18 assists. The Pioneers lead the G-MAC in both made threes per game (10.5) and assists (16.4 apg). Malone has averaged 12.3 made threes in eight home games this season.
• Jordan (47), Sheppard (45), Spotleson (45), and Graves (43) all rank among the top-7 in three-pointers
• Ty Jordan also leads the league in assists (5.5 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0). He ranks 3rd in steals (1.7 spg) and 7th in scoring (14.5 ppg).
• Nate Sheppard is 4th in the conference in scoring (15.3 ppg) while reigning G-MAC Player of the Week Mitchell Spotleson is 9th in points (13.1 ppg) and 5th in rebounds (6.5 rpg).
• Christian Graves has not played in enough games to qualify among the statistical leaders but is averaging 13.3 and 5.4 rebounds per game.  Had he played in enough games, he would rank 11th in NCAA DII in made three pointers per game (3.6).
• Serbian native Djuro Pantos, who scored a career-high 20 points in Malone's 71-67 win over Trevecca Nazarene last Saturday, is averaging 12.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game across the last seven games.
• As a team, Malone is averaging 83 points per game at home this season and 75.3 overall.
   

Ohio Valley Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• OVU is scoring just 58.3 points per game overall and just 54.9 points per game on the road where the Fighting Scots are 0-8.
• Ohio Valley picked up its first win of the season, 86-82, last Thursday against Alderson Broaddus. They were led in the win Kyle Davis (27 points, five steals) and Avery Williams (21 points, 10 rebounds).
• Davis tosses in 12.0 ppg and leads the G-MAC in steals (2.6 spg)
• Williams, a 6'7" forward, leads the team in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg)
• In the 85-62 loss to Malone earlier this season, Aleksandar Djordjevic led the team with 14 points. The Serbian native leads the team in assists (3.2 apg) and ranks 2nd in the conference in steals (1.9 spg).
• As a team, Ohio Valley is 2nd in the G-MAC with 7.9 steals per game but rank last in points allowed (86.9 ppg), scoring margin (-28.7 ppg), and defensive field goal percentage (47.4%).