Pioneer junior Jaret Majestic scored a career-high 31 points, including 18 in the final nine minutes, but the Malone University men's basketball team came up short in a road contest at Lake Erie College Thursday evening, falling by the final score of 80-73. With their second straight loss, the Pioneers dip to 9-7 on the season and 3-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
 
Recap
Majestic opened his scoring early on in the first half when his floater in the paint gave the Pioneers a 7-5 lead three minutes into the contest. Lake Erie tied the game tie two possessions later and Malone would never lead again. The Storm took advantage of their open looks and extended the lead to as many 12 points in the opening session.
 
With the Pioneers facing a 34-23 deficit, Majestic scored seven straight, knocking down a contested jumper from the free-throw line, a three-pointer from the left wing, and another short jumper in the paint to trim the deficit to just four points. LEC tacked on four points before the half and led 38-30 at the intermission.
 
Malone came out fast during the second half, collecting 12 points in first five minutes, but the Storm, who shot 59.3% in the first half, managed to increase to their halftime advantage before the first media timeout. Malone staggered over the next five minutes and saw the deficit climb to a game-high 18 points by the 10-minute mark.
 
Down 62-44 with 9:12 remaining, Majestic caught fire from distance, meshing six buckets from downtown over the duration of the game. A three-pointer in transition, a triple from the top of the key, and an open three from the right corner in span of 2:30 helped cut the margin to a dozen.
 
Majestic then netted his fifth three-pointer of the game with 2:31 left to play, splashed a three-ball from the left wing with under 90 seconds left, and then buried yet another deep three with 50 seconds remaining to slice the Lake Erie lead to just five points at 78-73. The rattled Storm made just 2-of-8 free throws down the stretch, but Malone could not muster enough late offense to complete the comeback.
 
Game Highlights
-Lake Erie shot 58.2% (32-of-55) from the floor, but made just 10-of-19 (52.6%) free throws.
-Malone finished 27-of-60 (45.0%) overall, 8-of-25 (32.0%) from distance, and 11-of-16 (68.8%) at the free-throw line.
-Lake Erie held a 52-38 edge in points in the paint and 15-5 advantage in the fast break.
-Depth was an issue for the Pioneers, who were outscored 29-0 by the Storm bench.
 
Pioneer Highlights
-Majestic finished with a career-high seven three-pointers and his 31 points surpassed the previous career-high of 26 set in December. He added six rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
-Marcus Ernst quietly collected 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and a game-high eight rebounds.
-Daylan Haynie contributed 11 points, four assists, and a pair of steals.
-Sehill Mouliom provided seven points and handed out three assists.
 
Storm Highlights
-The G-MAC's leading scorer Gabe Kynard played all 40 minutes, tossing in 22 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds and four assists.
-Jacob Plantz (8-10 FG, 5-6 3PT) recorded 21 points and three steals.
 
Up Next
Malone heads to West Virginia next weekend to face Ohio Valley on Thursday, January 16th and Alderson Broaddus next Saturday, January 18th.