The Malone University men's basketball team fell behind by 17 points early in the first half and never fully recovered in a 75-63 loss to Kentucky Wesleyan College Saturday afternoon in Owensboro. With the defeat, Malone dropped to 6-6 on the season and 2-4 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Kentucky Wesleyan, meanwhile, improved to 4-5 on the year and 2-4 in G-MAC play.
 
Recap
Less than a year after suffering an 88-58 loss to Malone last season in Owensboro, their worst home defeat in over 60 years, the Panthers roared out to a 12-0 lead over the first three and a half minutes in Saturday's victory. A floater in the paint from junior guard Daylan Haynie finally stopped Malone's scoreless drought, but Kentucky Wesleyan kept scoring and by the 14:28 mark of the first half had opened up a 19-2 advantage.
 
Down but not out, Malone battled back and began to chip away as a three-pointer from Jaret Majestic sparked a 17-5 run over the next six minutes. The run, capped off by a Sehill Mouliom jumper in the paint, brought Malone to within five points at 24-19 before KWC heated up again. The Panthers, who shot an impressive 66.7% (18-of-27) in the first half, outscored Malone 21-10 down the stretch to take a 45-29 halftime lead.
 
Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, Malone slowly whittled the deficit to just three points when a Haynie layup made it a 51-48 game. From there, though, Malone went cold, missing nine of its next 10 field goals over an eight-minute span. During that stretch, the Panthers outscored Malone 19-4, extending their lead to 18 points. For the Pioneers, the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
 
Game Highlights
-Kentucky Wesleyan ended up shooting 28-of-52 (53.8%) on the day, including a 20-of-30 (66.7%) effort on two-point shots.
-The Panthers were also 8-for-22 (36.4%) from three and 11-for-15 (73.3%) at the free throw line.
-Malone shot a season-low 33.8% (22-of-65) from the field and a chilly 15.6% (5-of-32) from three-point range – the lowest since January of 2015.
-On a positive note, the Pioneers committed a season-low six turnovers, pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, and outscored KWC 17-6 in second chances.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Senior forward Ben Evans scored a team-high 20 points, just two shy of tying a career-high. He added nine rebounds (five offensive) and a steal.
-Senior guard Nate Sheppard registered 16 points and seven rebounds.
-Daylan Haynie shot 5-of-7 and finished with 12 points and a pair of assists.
-Sehill Mouliom chipped in with seven points in 15 minutes off the bench.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan Individual Highlights
-Guard Mohamed Abu Arisha was nearly perfect, shooting 10-of-11 from the field, 2-for-2 from three, and 5-of-5 at the free throw line, finishing with 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four assists.
-Guard Adam Goetz totaled 19 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
 
Up Next
Malone will host the University of Charleston (WV) this Wednesday, December 19th in a non-conference matchup at 3:00 pm.