G-MAC Tournament Information Page / Bracket

Postgame Interview with Coach Casey Kaufman and Mitch Spotleson

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The Malone University men's basketball team registered a 75-69 victory over Cedarville University on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament.

The Pioneers shot 52.7% from the field over the course of the game and held off a late Yellow Jacket comeback bid to secure the program's first postseason triumph since the 2013-14 season when the squad travelled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and knocked off Lake Superior State University in the opening round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament

With Thursday's victory at the Sportscenter in Owensboro, Kentucky, fourth-seeded Malone improved to 15-12 overall and earned a spot in Friday's Semifinal Round where it will face the tournament's host, NCAA Division II #7 Kentucky Wesleyan College.  Fifth-seeded Cedarville ended its season with a final record of 13-16 overall.

Malone set the tone in the early stages of the contest on Thursday by storming out to a 13-3 lead.  A pair of three-pointers by senior guard Christian Graves, a lay-up by guard Nate Sheppard and two made jump shots by guard Ty Jordan accounted for the Pioneers' early offense.

Cedarville immediately turned to its bench and the Yellow Jacket reserves responded, forcing six straight Malone turnovers and scoring eight consecutive points to quickly cut the Pioneer advantage down to two at 13-11.

A three-pointer by forward Ben Evans brought the Malone scoring drought to a close a little more than five minutes into the contest.  The Pioneer lead would then swell back out to 21-15 before seven straight CU points gave the Jackets their first lead of the afternoon at 22-21.

The two teams then traded buckets back and forth over the next few minutes.  Cedarville pulled in front 31-30 on an Easton Bazzoli lay-up with three minutes to play in the opening stanza, but would not score again over the remainder of the first half.  A Graves jumper made it 32-31 before Sheppard drained a three to send the Pioneers to the locker room holding a 35-31 advantage.

Malone knocked down six of 10 three-pointers over the first 20 minutes.  Cedarville managed to keep things close by turning the Pioneers' 11 first-half turnovers into 15 points.

Early on in the second stanza, Malone appeared to have the game under wraps as a 19-6 scoring run put the Pioneers on top by a 54-37 margin.  Malone's advantage would grow to 61-42 near the midpoint of the final stanza before the Yellow Jackets rallied.  Cedarville scored 17 of the game's next 19 points to make it 63-59 with just over six minutes to play.

After a three-pointer by CU's Justice Montgomery moments later got the Jackets to within three, a lay-up by Sheppard and a pair of free throws by forward Mitchell Spotleson gave the Pioneers some breathing room, pushing the Pioneer lead back to seven. 

However, Cedarville wasn't quite done as a Bazzoli free throw followed by an offensive rebound and put-back by Dazhonetae Bennett made it 71-67 with 75 ticks remaining.  Malone would then misfire on its next shot attempt, but Spotleson came up with a huge offensive rebound to extend the Pioneer possession. 

With the clock dwindling, the Jackets had no choice but to foul and redshirt sophomore guard Kamron Carroll stepped to the line and calmly sank a pair of free throws to put the Pioneers back in control in the final minute.

Game Highlights
-Malone shot 52.7% from the field which marked its second-best shooting performance this season
-The Pioneers also converted on nine of their 20 (45%) attempts from beyond the arc
-CU connected on 25 of its 68 attempts from the floor (36.8%), including eight of 32 (25%) tries from three-point range
-Cedarville scored 22 points off 16 Pioneer turnovers
-After piling up 11 turnovers in the first half, the Pioneers committed only five miscues over the final 20 minutes
-Malone held a 42-32 advantage on the boards and a 34-20 edge in points in the paint
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Spotleson hit eight of 11 shot attempts, finishing with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds.  15 of his 19 points came in the second half
- Sheppard followed with 17 points and nine boards
-Jordan stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists
- Graves contributed 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals
 
Cedarville Individual Highlights
-Bennett notched a team-high 19 points off the bench.  He also grabbed seven rebounds and two steals
-Patrick Bain also provided a big lift off CU's bench with 14 points and four boards
-Bazzoli registered 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals
-J.C. Faubion contributed 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.
 
Up Next:
Malone will take on top-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan at 2:30 pm EST (1:30 pm CST) on Friday.  Although the seventh-ranked Panthers swept the season series with the Pioneers, Malone nearly pulled off an upset of Kentucky Wesleyan on February 2nd as KWC had to engineer a late rally to escape Osborne Hall with an 88-84 victory.  Friday's semifinal round match-up will feature a live video broadcast and live stats.  Links for each are available at www.malonepioneers.com/broadcast