The Malone University men's basketball team fell to Kentucky Wesleyan College on Thursday night by a score of 62-60. A lay-up by Deng Mayot with 3:00 left in the game would be the final points scored in a contest that was a defensive struggle for the full 40 minutes. The Pioneers dropped both games against the Panthers this season, and sit at a record of 13-11 overall, 8-9 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Kentucky Wesleyan improves their record to 8-13 overall, 6-9 in the G-MAC.
 
The game was up for grabs the entire time, with the largest lead of the game for either team being 10 points, and the lead changing hands 11 times. The Pioneers came up empty in their final seven trips down the floor, and a pair of missed free throws with less than a second left would secure the victory for the Panthers.
 
Recap:
Malone jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, but the Panthers found their groove and tied the game up at 11 seven minutes into the game. After that, no team got a bigger lead than four in the first half. At the intermission, Malone held a 30-27 lead. Both teams struggled to shoot from the field, Malone knocked down 40% and Kentucky Wesleyan 37%.
 
With Kentucky Wesleyan leading 36-34, Nate Sheppard and Ben Evans hit back-to-back threes to give the Pioneers a spark of offense. The Pioneers picked up steam and Jaret Majestic hit consecutive threes to give Malone an eight point lead with under 10 to play.
 
A thunderous left-handed dunk by Nate Sheppard would send Osborne Hall into a ruckus as Malone took their biggest lead of the game, 56-46. However, the Panthers battled right back and put up 10 straight to tie the game up at 56 with 6:40 left on the clock. Sophomore Marcus Ernst and Mohamed Abu Arisha traded consecutive lay-ups to make the score 60-60 heading into the final media timeout.
 
Deng Mayot connected on a lay-up in the post to give the Panthers a 62-60 lead with three minutes remaining. From there, the teams could not find any offense.
 
With 20 seconds left, Kentucky Wesleyan had a chance to make it a two possession game with one-and-one free throws, but missed the front end. Ben Evans gathered the rebound, and the Panthers continued to foul until they reached the limit to prevent Malone from getting an open look.
 
With four-tenths of a second remaining, Sheppard drove to the rim and drew a foul but could not cash in from the free throw line and the Panthers held on to win.
 
Game Highlights:
-Kentucky Wesleyan held the advantage in rebounding (39-30), scored more points off the bench (22-11) and had more points in the paint (34-26)
-Malone shot 24 of 57 overall (42.1%) and 10-24 from long range (41.7%)
-Kentucky Wesleyan made 26 of 58 shots from the field (44.8%) and made 8 of 31 from deep (25.8%)
 
Malone Individual Highlights:
-Nate Sheppard was the leading scorer for the Pioneers with 19 points
-Junior guard Bryce Butler contributed with 14 points and four assists
-Marcus Ernst put up 13 points and grabbed six rebounds
-Jaret Majestic hit three 3-point shots and finished with nine points
 
Kentucky Wesleyan Individual Highlights:
-Adam Goetz led all scorers with 20 points, including 4 threes, and brought down eight rebounds
-Tyler Bezold totaled 15 points, five rebounds and four assists
-Deng Mayot finished with 10 points
-Mohammed Abu Arisha scored eight points and was the game's leading rebounder with 10
 
Up Next:
The men's and women's basketball teams host Trevecca Nazarene University this Saturday, February 16th. Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm for the women and 3:00 pm for the men.