The Malone University men's basketball team got out to an early lead in Saturday's game versus Northwood University, but the Timberwolves went on a defensive tear in the second half and bested the Pioneers by a score of 65-56.
 
Malone falters to 2-4 overall in the 2019-20 season. Northwood advances to 3-2 on the year with the victory.
 
Game Recap:
The Pioneers scored on four of their first five possessions and held an 8-6 lead at the first media timeout.
 
Coming out of the timeout, the Pioneers worked to get the ball inside and scored eight straight from inside the painted area. Malone fans erupted with cheers as Marcus Ernst rocked the rim with a thunderous dunk. Ernst gathered a rebound and pushed the ball up the floor himself. He found Jaret Majestic on the wing, slipped a flare screen, caught the ball, and with one powerful dribble, jammed over multiple defenders.

Nobody:

Marcus Ernst: "Meet me at the rim" pic.twitter.com/rGZ72bB4Px

— Malone Athletics (@maloneathletics) November 24, 2019

 
The Timberwolves called an immediate timeout, but responded by going on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 16.
 
A pair of buckets from beyond the arc from Jaret Majestic and Bo Myers assisted in giving the Pioneers a small cushion of a lead. Daylan Haynie ended the first half by converting a jumper inside the paint and a pair of free throws that sent Malone into the locker room up 34-28.
 
The Pioneer defense held Northwood 0-of-9 from three in the first half and 0-of-3 from the charity stripe.
 
In the second half, Malone got the lead up to nine at 41-32 after a pair of Sehill Mouliom free throws, but again, the Timberwolves were relentless in their pursuit of a win.
 
Northwood took full advantage of four consecutive Pioneer turnovers to tie the game at 41 and continued to pile it on in the midst of a 21-0 run. Haynie, the primary Pioneer ballhandler, exited the game after his fourth foul with the game tied, and the Timberwolves went on the hunt to get tips and taps on passes and put immense pressure on the ball.
 
Malone went scoreless for over seven minutes and found themselves in a 53-41 hole with 9:58 left to play.
 
The Pioneers chipped away, but were never able to regain the lead once giving it up in the massive scoring spurt and ultimately lost 65-56. Northwood's defense reigned supreme over the Pioneers on this day, forcing Malone to shoot 6-of-24 (25%) in the second stanza.
 
Game Highlights:
- Northwood won the turnover battle by a large margin, forcing 22 turnovers while losing control of the ball nine times. In the second half, Malone committed 11 turnovers and Northwood only one.
- Both defenses were forcing tough shots that were well-contested. The Timberwolves shot 43.8% (28-of-64) and the Pioneers 41.2% (21-of-51).
- Both teams shot surprisingly poor from deep. A combined 4-of-32 from three-point land, Malone was 3-of-16 and Northwood 1-of-16.
- The Timberwolves held the advantage in paint points (50-36) and bench points (27-7).
- Malone outrebounded the Timberwolves 43-30 in the game. 34 defensive rebounds is the most in a game since the Pioneers achieved that number against Kentucky State over one year ago.
 
Malone Individual Highlights:
- Marcus Ernst grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds in the loss. Ernst finished off his eighth double-double as a Pioneer with 15 points as well.
- Daylan Haynie led Malone in scoring with 16 points. He was 5-of-6 from the field and converted 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
- Sehill Mouliom reached double-digit points as well with 10.
- Jaret Majestic scored six points, brought down six rebounds and dished out four assists.
 
Northwood Individual Highlights:
- Trey McBride stuffed the stat sheet on the day. He led all scorers with 22 points and had the team lead with seven rebounds and six assists.
- Off the bench, Ja'Kavien Lewis dropped 20 points and secured six boards.
- Maurion Scott had a game-high six steals. He also contributed with seven points and five rebounds in 27 minutes.
- Danny Kolp was an efficient 5-of-5 shooting as he reached double-digit scoring with 10 points.
 
Up Next:
Malone is at home versus Carlow University this Wednesday afternoon at 3 pm.