The Malone University men's basketball team will travel to Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio on Thursday evening for a 7:30 pm Great Midwest Athletic Conference match-up with the Storm.  Thursday's game will account for the Pioneers only contest of the week as the team will be idle on Saturday before returning to Osborne Hall next Thursday to take on Davis & Elkins College.

GameDay
1/17/19 Malone at Lake Erie – 7:30 pm
Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/malone/

Series History
Malone has won 16 of the 23 all-time meetings between the two teams.  The Pioneers defeated the Storm 66-57 at Osborne Hall last January before Lake Erie evened the season series in Painesville the following month, topping Malone by a 70-64 final.

Malone Notes (9-7 overall, 4-5 G-MAC)

• The Pioneers have won three out of their last four contests, including a thrilling 69-62 triumph on Saturday at rival Walsh University
• Saturday's win snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Cavaliers and moved Malone to ninth in the conference standings
• Malone held Walsh to its second-lowest point total of the season.  On the year, the Pioneers rank fifth in the G-MAC in scoring defense, surrendering an average of 71.2 points per outing.
• The Pioneers are also fifth in the league in both field-goal percentage (45.8%) and three-point field goal percentage (37%)
• Guard Nate Sheppard continues to lead the G-MAC in scoring with an average of 19.6 points per game; Sheppard tallied 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the win at Walsh and needs just 25 more points to become the 18th player in Malone history to reach 1,500 for his career
• On Saturday, in his first career start, guard Jaret Majestic scored a career-high 20 points after draining six of 11 three-pointers.  Majestic is now averaging 7.7 points per game and improved his three-point percentage to 35.2 (32 of 91)
• Guard Bryce Butler also had a strong showing at Walsh, tossing in 19 points while grabbing five rebounds; Butler has made 48.1% of his three-pointers (25 of 52) this season and currently ranks among the G-MAC's Top 15 players in scoring (14th at 15.1 ppg), field goal percentage (fourth at 53.6%) and assists (15th at 2.9 per contest)
• Senior Ben Evans is shooting 39.8% from long range (33 of 83) on the year while averaging 11.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing
• Junior Daylan Haynie tallied 12 points and four assists in the win at Walsh.  He is currently ranked fourth in the G-MAC in assists (5.1 per contest) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0).
• Forward Marcus Ernst registered nine points and 13 rebounds in Malone's win over Lake Erie at Osborne Hall last season.  This year, Ernst is eighth in the G-MAC in rebounding at 7.2 boards per contest
• Malone is just 3-4 on the road this season.

Lake Erie Notes (10-6, 5-3 G-MAC) -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Storm enter the week on a four-game winning streak, including a 91-87 triumph over Cedarville last Thursday and a 78-66 victory over Tiffin last Saturday.
• Junior guard Gabe Kynard averaged 25 points per game over those two victories. On the season Kynard, Kynard ranks third in the G-MAC with 18.8 points a night. He is also fourth in the league with 27 steals.
• Junior guard Erron James (10.6 ppg) is the only other player to averaged double figures. Senior forward Brogan Scott (9.4 ppg) leads the Storm in rebounds at 6.3 per game.
• As a team, Lake Erie leads the G-MAC in total rebounds per game (41.2) and offensive rebounds per game (13.5). The Storm averaged 18.5 second-chance points in the two wins last week.
• Lake Erie offensively, shoots a G-MAC worst 31.6% from three-point range, but are holding opponents to a G-MAC low 31.4% from beyond the arc.
• Overall this season, the Storm defense is limiting opponents to just 69.0 points per game, third-fewest in the conference.
• Lake Erie is 7-1 at home on the year.