The Malone University men's basketball team will look to bounce back from a tough road loss at Ohio Valley University last Saturday with two more road games in the state of West Virginia this weekend. The Pioneers will travel to Alderson Broaddus University on Thursday, February 7th and then to Davis & Elkins on Saturday, February 9th in hopes of avenging a loss to the Senators earlier this year.
 
Malone enters the week at seventh place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) standings, in a virtual tie with Alderson Broaddus, a team Malone defeated just two weeks ago. Two wins this weekend could springboard Malone towards its third-straight postseason appearance and help build momentum as the regular season comes to a close. Following this weekend's games, the Pioneers will play their final five games at home.
 
GameDay
2/7 Malone at Alderson Broaddus - 7:30 pm
2/9 Malone at Davis & Elkins – 12:00 pm
Live video/stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
 
Team Comparison

Category	Malone	D&E	ABU
Record (G-MAC)	12-9 (7-7)	5-14 (2-10)	10-10 (6-6)
Points per game	75.1	70.2	75.2
Points allowed	70.8	81.2	75.4
Scoring margin	+4.3	-11.0	-0.2
FG%	45.0%	41.0%	45.3%
3-point%	36.5%	31.1%	37.4%
Free throw%	62.8%	66.4%	69.1%
FG% defense	44.0%	46.0%	45.3%
Rebounds	37.0	37.6	36.0
Rebound margin	+1.8	-2.1	+0.7
Turnover margin	+0.5	-1.4	-0.8

Series History
Malone is 3-2 all-time against Thursday's opponent, Alderson Broaddus, including an 84-77 win over the Battlers in Canton last month. Last season in Philippi, the two teams needed double-overtime before Malone prevailed 86-85.
 
Against Davis & Elkins, Malone is 6-3 in nine all-time meetings, including a tough-to-swallow 78-73 home loss to the Senators on January 24th. Last season in Elkins, Malone held on for a 68-63 triumph.

Malone Notes

• The Pioneers are coming off of a 62-56 defeat at Ohio Valley in which they scored a season-low and had their second-worst shooting performance at 36.2%. They also had season-lows in three-pointers made (4) and attempted (13).
• Prior to that loss, however, Malone had won six of eight games overall while shooting 46.7%. Over that eight-game stretch, the Pioneers shot an impressive 42.0% from three-point range – a mark, which over the entirety of the season, would rank fifth in NCAA Division II.
• Junior guard Bryce Butler has been a 46.5% (33-71) shooter from beyond the arc this season. Butler is second on the team and 13th in the G-MAC, averaging 15.3 points per game. He is also second on the team in assists (56) and third in steals (19).
• Senior guard Nate Sheppard continues to lead the G-MAC in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game. He leads the team in three-pointers (60) and is second in rebounding (5.9 rpg). He is second in the G-MAC in minutes (33.7 mpg).
• Sheppard (28) and Butler (22) combined to score 50 points in the win vs. Alderson Broaddus in January, marking the second-most by a Malone duo in a game this season.
• Sheppard combined with Ben Evans to score 51 in the win over West Virginia State. Evans is third on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg) and rebounds (5.8 rpg) and second in blocks (18), made threes (44), and three-point percentage (39.6%). He made a career-high five three-pointers in the loss to Davis & Elkins.
• Sophomore forward Marcus Ernst is averaging 7.1 ppg and leads the team in rebounds (8.2 rpg) and blocks (20) and is second in steals (24). Ernst, who ranks sixth in the G-MAC in rebounding, recorded his team-leading fourth double-double in Malone's 75-66 win at Ohio Dominican last Thursday.
• Five different players scored in double-digits in that win over ODU, including junior forward Daylan Haynie, who finished with 17 points, one shy of tying a season-high.
• Haynie so far this season is averaging 8.7 points per game and leads Malone in steals (25) and assists (102). He ranks second in the G-MAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8), third in assists per game (4.9), and sixth in minutes (32.5 mpg).
• Sophomore guard Jaret Majestic is third on the team in three-pointers (37) and fourth in steals (15). Majestic is averaging 7.2 points per game this season and is coming off his sixth double-digit scoring effort of the year (10 points) at Ohio Valley.
• The Pioneers are 5-5 on the road this season where are they are scoring 69.0 points while shooting 41.4% (31.3% three-pointers). By comparison, the Pioneers are 7-3 at home where they average 81.6 points and shoot 48.5% overall and 41.0% from three-point range.
• Over the past three seasons, Malone is 7-3 in games played in West Virginia.

Alderson Broaddus Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Since the loss to Malone last month, the Battlers have won two in a row, including a 90-74 win over Bluefield State in which six different players scored in double-digits, and a 78-57 triumph over Davis & Elkins last Saturday in which they connected on a season-high 14 three-pointers.
• Four different Battlers scored at least 14 points in the loss at Malone, including Mike Davis, who finished with a team-high 17. Davis, the G-MAC's leading scorer last winter, is currently seventh in the G-MAC with 16.3 points per game.
• Forward Malik Bocook tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds at Malone while playing all 40 minutes. Bocook (9.8 ppg) is first in the G-MAC in minutes (34.7 mpg), second in the G-MAC in rebounds (9.7 rpg), and fifth in blocked shots (1.5 bpg).
• As a team, AB is third in the G-MAC in both blocked shots (3.8 bpg) and offensive rebounds (11.4 orpg). Against Malone, however, they were held to a season-low seven offensive boards and did not record a blocked shot for the only time this season.
   

Davis & Elkins Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Senators, whose only G-MAC road win this season was at Malone, have suffered a 92-56 setback at Walsh along with the 78-57 loss at AB in the two games since their trip to Canton. D&E hosts Walsh on Thursday prior to hosting Malone on Saturday.
• Davis & Elkins forced Malone into a season-high 20 turnovers, coming away with 15 steals in the win. The Senators are second in the G-MAC with 7.7 steals per game.
• Freshman guard Marcus Friend recorded nine steals against Malone. Friend, who is third on the team in scoring (7.4 ppg), leads the G-MAC with 51 steals and is 10th in DII with 2.7 steals per game.
• Junior center Trevor English (6'8" 250 lbs.) was a matchup struggle for Malone in the previous meeting as he totaled 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. English leads the Senators in scoring (15.8 ppg) and ranks fifth in the G-MAC total rebounds (8.3 rpg). He leads the conference with 3.4 offensive boards per game.
• Senior guard Edmund Parker is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points a night. Parker led D&E with 21 points in the win over Malone in January.