The Malone University men's basketball team picked up a 66-57 home win over visiting Lake Erie College on Thursday evening at Osborne Hall.

The Pioneers held a 28-25 lead at halftime and then maintained their advantage throughout the final stanza, improving to 11-6 overall and 4-5 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.  The Storm, meanwhile, slipped to 9-7 overall and 4-4 in league play.

Neither team led by more than six points in a closely-contested first half.  The Pioneers opened up the second period on a 7-0 run to grab a 35-25 advantage.  The Storm surged back into the game moments later with a 6-0 spurt that trimmed the Malone lead back to 37-33 with a little less than 13 minutes to play.

The Pioneers immediately responded with an 8-0 run that ballooned the Malone lead back out to double digits at 45-33 with 10 minutes to play.  Guard Bryce Butler got things started with a three-point play.  Guard Jaret Majestic then tallied the next five points, sinking a pair of free throws and then a three-pointer to push the lead to 12.

The Storm twice cut the margin back down to six but could get no closer the rest of the way as Malone sank seven of eight foul shots in final 80 seconds to cement its 11th victory of the year and improve to 9-3 in games played at Osborne Hall this season.
 
Game Highlights
-Both teams struggled from three-point range throughout the evening as Malone made just five of 21 attempts (23.8%) from long range while Lake Erie was four of 23 (17.4%) from distance
-Overall Lake Erie made 24 of 62 (38.7%) shots from the field while the Pioneers connected on 19 of 53 (35.8%) attempts
-Despite its shooting struggles from the floor, Malone came up big at the foul line, converting on 23 of its 29 free throws (79.3%); The Storm went to the stripe only seven times, making five (71.4%)
-The Storm outscored the Pioneers by a 38-24 margin in the paint but Malone held 41-36 edge in total rebounds
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Guard Ty Jordan tallied 17 points, five assists and three rebounds
-Forward Marcus Ernst had a huge night off the bench for the Pioneers, tallying nine points and a career-high 13 rebounds; he also had one block, one assist and one steal
-Majestic finished with 10 points and a steal
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson registered seven points and 11 rebounds
-Guard Daylan Haynie added eight points, three assists, three rebounds and three steals
 
Lake Erie Individual Highlights
-Forward Lamont Rhodes came off the bench to record 14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots
-Guard Gabe Kynard tallied 10 points
-Guard Jordan Humphrey finished with nine points, six assists and three rebounds
 
Up Next:
Malone will be idle over the weekend before returning to action on Monday with a 7:30 p.m. road contest at Ohio Valley University.