After a huge comeback victory over rival Walsh on Monday night, the Malone University men's basketball team still has work to do as the regular season winds down. Malone will play home games versus Ohio Dominican University and Lake Erie College this weekend. Winning both games would be extremely helpful in terms of conference tournament seeding for the Pioneers.
 
Malone will square off with the Ohio Dominican Panthers first on Thursday, February 20 at 8 pm, followed by a 3 pm start time against the Lake Erie Storm on Saturday. On Saturday, men's basketball will host senior day and honor Daylan Haynie and Sehill Mouliom for their time in a Pioneer uniform.
 
Follow Along:
Malone vs Ohio Dominican
Thursday, February 20 at 8 pm
Live Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/malone/
 
Malone vs Lake Erie (Senior Day)
Saturday, February 22 at 3 pm
Live Video/Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/malone/
 
Previous Matchups:
The Pioneers picked up a 73-66 win in the first matchup with the Ohio Dominican Panthers in Columbus on December 14, 2019. Eli Ramsey poured in a career-high 17 points in the game. Malone held Ohio Dominican to 35.7% from the field in the second half to secure the victory.
 
At Lake Erie, the Pioneers lost 80-73. Malone fell behind in the first half despite shooting 52.0% from the field and were never able to regain the lead in the second half. Jaret Majestic scored a career-high 31 points in the game.
 
Malone Team Notes: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Record: 14-11 (8-7 G-MAC)
 
Malone has won three of their last four games and hold a record of 8-4 in Osborne Hall this season. Momentum is beginning to pick up at the right time for the Pioneers as March approaches.
 
Even though Malone came back from a 14-point deficit to win against Walsh, the Pioneers are more successful when taking a first half lead. Malone has outscored their opponents 945-858 in the first half this season and are 12-2 when leading at the intermission.
 
Sehill Mouliom has been playing extremely well since the calendar flipped to 2020, but had a career-defining performance on Monday night at home versus Walsh. Mouliom scored 26 points, which is the most he has ever scored in a game as a Pioneer, and sank a pair of free throws with just one second left to secure the victory. In five of his last nine games, Mouliom has shot above 50% from the field and has scored in double figured in eight of his last nine.
 
Jaret Majestic continues to lead Malone in scoring at 16.7 points per game. The junior needs 13 more three-point field goals this season to hit 100 shots from long range.
 
Marcus Ernst, Mouliom, and Bo Myers join Majestic with double-digit scoring averages. Ernst is scoring 14.0 points per game and is second in the league in rebounding at 8.6 boards per game. Mouliom averages 12.7 points per game and Myers gives a great spark off the bench with 12.2 points per game. Myers collected eight rebounds, most of which were on crucial possessions, against Walsh.
 
Daylan Haynie and Eli Ramsey continue to shine in their roles as starting guards for Malone. Playing through some foul trouble against Walsh, Haynie was still able to impact the game in all areas, scoring seven points, grabbing six rebounds and distributing five assists. Ramsey has been known for his good shot selection, has been 50% or above in the last six games he has played.
 
Ohio Dominican Team Notes: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Record: 11-14 (7-8 G-MAC)
 
Ohio Dominican enters Thursday's game on a two game losing spell, dropping consecutive road contests to Findlay and Hillsdale. The Panthers hold a 5-8 record on the road this season.
 
From the field, Ohio Dominican is shooting 44.8%. Ironically, the Panthers allow their opponents to shoot the exact same percentage from the field. Ohio Dominican makes an average of 9.7 three-point shots per game, the second most in the conference. The Panthers have passed Cedarville and are now the highest percentage team from the free throw line at 80.8%.
 
Ohio Dominican boasts two top 10 scorers in the G-MAC with Hasan Varence and Sam Hickey. Varence (18.6 points per game) is also the league's top rebounder at 9.4 boards per game and third in field goal percentage (52.5%). Hickey (15.9 points per game) is the only other double figure scorer on Ohio Dominican's roster and is the only player to have started in all 25 games.
 
Michael Scott leads the team in minutes played with over 32 per game. He averages 9.9 points per game and is second in the conference in assists with 6.0 per contest. Scott had a good overall game in the first matchup with the Pioneers, scoring 13 points, collecting six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
 
Arius Jones and Matt King are the other two usual suspects in the starting lineup for the Panthers. Jones scored 13 points as well in the first game with Malone. King chips in with 6.3 points per game.
 
Lake Erie Team Notes: Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Record: 14-11 (8-7 G-MAC)
 
Lake Erie will play at home against the University of Findlay on Thursday before traveling to Canton to face the Pioneers. The Storm are coming off a 98-91 overtime loss against Cedarville last Saturday. In conference play, Lake Erie is 6-1 at home, but stumble to just 2-6 in road games.
 
Lake Erie has the second-lowest field goal percentage defense in the G-MAC, holding opponents to 42.0% from the field. The Storm are also an elite rebounding team and average 11.3 offensive rebounds per game to lead the conference.
 
The duo of Gabe Kynard and Jacob Plantz torched Malone in the opening game of the season series on January 10. Kynard, Lake Erie's career scoring leader, scored 22 points while playing all 40 minutes. He is the conference's leading scorer as well at 20.2 points per game. The true freshman Plantz averages 9.5 points per contest and has scored in double figures in his last four games.
 
Kevin Peterson, Kaleb Vaughn and Harrison Riggs round out the usual starting line-up for the Storm. Peterson is one of the leading shot takers from behind the arc for Lake Erie and scores 9.6 points per game along with bringing down 4.6 rebounds. Vaughn scores 8.4 points per game from the forward position and is the team's leading shot blocker. Riggs is right behind Kynard in assists per game with 3.2 per contest.
 
The Storm bring five more players off the bench in most games, including local talent Mitch Loomis who played basketball with Jaret Majestic at Malvern High School.