The Malone University men's basketball team has finished their final exams, but still have work to do on the court before entering the holiday season. The Pioneers go on the road for two conference games this weekend. First up, Malone ventures to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio Dominican Panthers on Saturday, December 14 at 1 pm. On Monday night, December 16, the Pioneers do battle with the Tiffin Dragons with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm.
 
Follow Along:
Malone @ Ohio Dominican
Saturday, December 14 at 1 pm
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ohiodominican/
Live Stats: https://ohiodominicanpanthers.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/boxscores/20191214_esqu.xml
 
Malone @ Tiffin
Monday, December 16 at 7:30 pm
Live Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tiffin/
Live Stats: https://www.gotiffindragons.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/boxscores/20191216_b1v4.xml
 
Series History:
Malone holds a favorable 61-26 record versus Ohio Dominican all-time, but recently the match-up has been even. In the last 10 games, the teams are split at five wins apiece. The Pioneers will be looking for retribution from a loss in the 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament to the eventual G-MAC Champion Panthers.
 
Against Tiffin, Malone is 64-25. Last season, the teams met once, with the Pioneers pulling out a 90-76 victory. The last time Malone made the trip to Tiffin was on February 11, 2016, where the Dragons won 74-67.
 
Malone Team Notes: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Record: 5-5 (0-1 G-MAC)
 
The Pioneers had won three straight games before Cedarville upended Malone 80-66 at home on Saturday in the conference opener. In the only road game for the Pioneers last week, Malone held Clarion to 31.1% from the field. That is the lowest opponent field goal percentage in a road game for the Pioneers since 2010.
 
As a team, the Pioneers have gotten to the free throw line at a high rate. Over the last three games, Malone has had its three highest free throw shooting games of the season, with 27 attempts against Cedarville and Point Park and a season-high 30 attempts at Clarion.
 
Bo Myers scorched the Yellow Jackets on Saturday for a career-high 24 points. The freshman has reached 20 or more in the scoring column four times already this season.
 
Marcus Ernst leads the Pioneers in scoring (14.7 PPG) and rebounding (8.5 RPG). Ernst averaged 10.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in each of the two games last week, including five offensive rebounds versus Cedarville. 15 of the 23 blocks Malone has accumulated this season have come from the hand of player one.
 
Jaret Majestic has seen his minutes increase to 33.4 per game in the five games since being inserted into the starting line-up. Majestic is second on the squad in scoring at 14.4 points per game. The junior from Malvern is perfect from the charity stripe this season (18-for-18).
 
Daylan Haynie, Eli Ramsey and Sehill Mouliom join Majestic and Ernst in the Pioneers' starting five. Off the bench, Levi Seiler has averaged 10.6 minutes per game over the last five contests. Seiler has had a large contribution for Malone in his freshman season.
 
Ohio Dominican Team Notes: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Record: 4-6 (1-1 G-MAC)
 
In wins this season, Ohio Dominican is averaging 83.3 points per game, but in losses, the Panthers are only scoring 71.0 points. For the Pioneers to have success against Ohio Dominican, it has to start on the defensive end. Over the last 10 games these two teams have played against one another, Malone wins have come from forcing the Panthers to score an average of 56.0 points. In games Ohio Dominican has won, the Panthers have scored an average of 82.2 points per game.
 
Similar to Cedarville, Ohio Dominican is prolific at the free throw line. The Panthers shoot freebies at 83.7%, which is second in NCAA Division II. The team is also ranked 21st in NCAA Division II in defensive rebounding at 30.1 per game.
 
Ohio Dominican is led by senior forward Hasan Varence. Varence was named First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region in 2018-19 and averaged a double-double at 16.2 points and 12.5 rebounds (second-most in NCAA Division II) per game. This season, Varence averages a career-best 19.6 points per game.
 
Senior guards Sam Hickey and Michael Scott are also double-digit scorers for the Panthers. Hickey has faced the Pioneers five times in his career and has scored double-digits in four of the five games, including a 20-point performance off the bench in the 2018 G-MAC Tournament Quarterfinals. Scott is Ohio Dominican's leading distributor of the basketball with 4.3 assists per game.
 
Junior forward Matt King and sophomore guard Arius Jones round out the starting line-up for the Panthers. They also bring a pair of freshmen off the bench in Alek West and Sean Marks for 19 and 11 minutes per game, respectively.
 
Tiffin Team Notes: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Record: 5-5 (0-2 G-MAC)
 
Before hosting the Pioneers, the Dragons will play Walsh on Saturday, December 14. In Tiffin's first two conference games, the team traveled south to Trevecca Nazarene and Kentucky Wesleyan and fell in both contests. Tiffin had won five of six non-conference games before entering G-MAC play.
 
The Dragons are second in the G-MAC in scoring offense at 84.8 points per game. Tiffin is efficient at getting shots off of dribble penetration, and have the 15th most assists in NCAA Division II with 159.
 
Jairus Stevens is the leading scorer (16.6 PPG) and rebounder (7.4 RPG) for Tiffin. He and guard Austin Schaub are the only Dragon players to start all 10 games this season.
 
Joshua Williams scores 13.4 points per game and leads the team in field goal attempts and minutes played. A pair of freshmen in Wesley Jordan and Trent Williams are both double-digit scorers for the Dragons. Jordan has made a start in nine games this season and leads all starters in field goal percentage at 52.9%. Williams is the team's leading perimeter shooter, averaging 1.8 makes from deep per game.
 
Tiffin is not shy about rotating players in and out of the game as they attempt to push the pace. Eight players average 16 minutes per game or more and 10 players have seen the floor in at least nine games.