The Malone University men's basketball team tallied its second straight overtime road win on Tuesday night as the squad picked up an 84-82 victory at Cedarville University.

The Pioneers, who topped Alderson Broaddus University by an 86-85 final in double overtime on Saturday, improved to 15-7 overall and 8-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference following Tuesday's triumph.  The victory avenged an 88-75 home loss to Cedarville on January 2nd and allowed Malone to surpass its win total from last season (14-13).

The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, slipped to 10-10 overall and 5-8 in conference games.

Game Recap
Much like in the first meeting of the season between the two teams, the Pioneers charged out to a big lead in the early going on Tuesday, pulling ahead 20-8 midway through the first half.

And just like in the contest at Osborne Hall on January 2, Cedarville stormed back, outscoring Malone 20-4 over the final eight minutes of the opening period to take a 28-24 advantage into the locker room at the break.

The Yellow Jackets then extended their lead to 45-30 six minutes into the second period.

However, unlike the first match-up of the year between the two teams, Malone managed to engineer a second-half rally.  The Pioneers' freshman sharpshooter, Jaret Majestic, fueled the comeback, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to pull Malone to within 45-39.  Senior guard Ty Jordan followed with another trey, making it a three-point game with a little more than 11 minutes to play in regulation.

The Yellow Jackets responded with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight at 50-42.  Malone would eventually claw back to knot the score at 56-56 and then would later use an 8-0 scoring run to open up a 64-58 lead with 80 seconds remaining in the second half.

A lay-up by Cedarville's Connor TenHove cut the deficit to four with under a minute left before Pioneer guard Daylan Haynie stepped to the foul line and sank a pair of free throws to make it 66-60 with 47 seconds to go.

A three-point play by TenHove trimmed the deficit to three on the Yellow Jackets' next possession and after Malone split a pair of free throws, TenHove added another bucket to pull Cedarville to within 67-65 with 12.5 remaining.  The hosts then came up with a quick steal. After misfiring on a three-pointer, the Jackets grabbed the offensive rebound and guard Evan Kraatz sank a mid-range jumper with just 0.2 to play, completing an improbable Cedarville rally and sending the game to extra time deadlocked at 67-67.

Two more Majestic three-pointers helped Malone grab an 81-77 lead with under a minute to play in the overtime frame.  A lay-up by Kraatz cut the margin to two before a pair of Bryce Butler free throws put the Pioneers on top 83-79 with 19.3 left.

Cedarville would once again make things interesting at the end.  A three-pointer by Colton Linkous made it 83-82 with 4.9 to play.  After Malone split two more free throws, the Yellow Jackets managed to attempt a potential game-winning three from the top of the arc, but the shot was off the mark, sealing the Pioneers' sixth win in their last seven contests.

Game Highlights
-The Pioneers made just one of 11 three-pointers over the first 20 minutes but then went a combined 11 for 16 from deep in the second half and overtime, finishing the game at 44.4% (12 of 27) from beyond the arc
-Overall, Malone shot 50.9% from the field (28 of 55), but struggled at the foul line, making only 16 of 27 (59.3%) from the charity stripe over the course of the evening
-The Yellow Jackets also shot 50.9% (29 of 57) from the floor.  Cedarville made 10 of 26 (38.5%) treys but also had its struggles at the foul line, hitting 14 of 21 (66.7%)
-Malone scored 24 points off 14 Cedarville turnovers
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Jordan notched his second double-double of the year, finishing the night with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds; Jordan made eight of 14 field goals, including five of nine three-pointers
-Majestic totaled all 16 of his points in the second half and in overtime, hitting five of nine three-pointers
-Butler registered a season-high 11 points to go with four assists
-Forward Mitchell Spotleson posted 10 points
-Forward Djuro Pantos added five assists and three rebounds
 
Cedarville Individual Highlights
-In the absence of leading scorer Patrick Bain, who missed the game due to injury, four Yellow Jackets reached double figures.  Linkous led the way with 20 points
-Kraatz posted 20 points on five of eight shooting from deep
-TenHove notched 19 points and seven boards
-Guard Grant Zwadzki totaled 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals
 
Up Next:
Malone will welcome NCAA Division II #11 University of Findlay to Osborne Hall on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.