The Malone University men's basketball team picked up their 15th victory of the season and second in a row on Thursday night over Ohio Dominican University by a score of 88-85. Late free throw shooting was just enough for the Pioneers, who at one point led by 19 points.
 
Malone is now 15-11 on the season and 9-7 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Ohio Dominican falls to 11-15 overall and 7-9 in conference play.
 
Recap:
On the first possession of the game, Malone made it their mission to get sharpshooter Jaret Majestic the ball. Majestic came off a screen and splashed home a three while getting fouled to put the Pioneers up 4-0.
 
The teams went back and forth from there, exchanging the lead four times before the under-12 media timeout. Malone was able to extend their lead with red hot three-point shooting. Levi Seiler, Bo Myers, Marcus Ernst and Kenneth McCullough-Lomax Jr. combined to make six consecutive shots from long range to push the Pioneer advantage out to double-digits before the end of the first half.
 
McCollough-Lomax Jr. hit back-to-back three point shots with just under two minutes left in the half to complete a 10-0 run for the home squad and finished with a key six points.
 
Going into the half, Malone held a 44-35 lead and had knocked down 7-of-13 (53.8%) three's. From the field, the Pioneers connected on 17-of-31 (54.8%) attempts. Defensively, Malone held the Panthers to 15-of-33 (45.5%) overall and 3-of-13 (23.1%) from long range.
 
The second half point of emphasis was to get the basketball inside to Sehill Mouliom and Marcus Ernst. Mouliom hit his first lay-up of the second half after a quiet first to keep the offensive train moving.
 
The biggest turn in momentum happened with just under 15 minutes left in the second stanza. Following a Bo Myers free throw, Myers recorded a steal and buried a three on the other end. A foul underneath the basket gave Malone the ball back and Ernst converted a lay-up to send the Pioneers up 59-46.
 
Ernst was left open again from deep and the big man was able to knock it down once again to spark an 8-0 spurt. Myers converted his fourth shot from behind the line and another lay-up from Mouliom gave the Pioneers a 69-50 advantage with 11 minutes remaining.
 
The scrappy Ohio Dominican bunch would not go away easily, chipping away at the gap through Hasan Varence and Sam Hickey. Varence scored on an offensive rebound chance, one of five O-boards he would collect, and Hickey went on to score 10 consecutive points himself to bring the score to 77-65 with just over five minutes remaining.
 
Varence took his turn, scoring six straight himself and a three-pointer from Hickey brought the margin to single digits at 82-74 with 1:50 to play. The Panthers scored on nine straight possessions and took advantage of Malone misses at the charity stripe to get it down to as little as three, but there was not enough time and the Pioneers clung to an 88-85 win.
 
Game Highlights:
- Malone shot 32-of-58 (55.2%) for the game, their fourth-best field goal percentage as a team in a game this season. The Pioneers also shot 12-of-23 (52.5%) from deep, their third-highest three-point percentage in a contest.
- Ohio Dominican owned the battle on the boards 39-24 and collected 12 offensive rebounds. Those second chances led to 18 points, compared to only four for Malone.
- The Pioneers won the turnover battle 13-5, and forced nine Panther second half turnovers while only turning the ball over once themselves.
 
Malone Individual Highlights:
- Marcus Ernst led the Pioneers with 21 points and brought down a team-high nine rebounds while shooting 8-of-9 from the field, his only miss coming from three-point land.
- Bo Myers hit four three-point shots and finished with 17 points and four rebounds.
- Jaret Majestic netted 16 points and dished out four assists.
- Sehill Mouliom accumulated 12 points.
- Daylan Haynie recorded nine points and a team-high five assists.
 
Ohio Dominican Individual Highlights:
- Sam Hickey achieved his second-highest scoring game of the season with 29 points on 9-of-13 from the floor. Hickey also connected on four three-point attempts.
- Hasan Varence finished with 25 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
- Off the bench, Sean Marks had a nice overall game with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
 
Up Next:
Malone plays at home on Saturday, February 22 when the Pioneers take on the Lake Erie Strom for senior day. Daylan Haynie and Sehill Mouliom will be honored prior to the 3 pm tip-off. It is the final home game of the regular season for Malone men's basketball.