The Malone University men's basketball team was defeated by Kentucky Wesleyan College in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Semifinal game in overtime by a score of 81-79. The Panthers found themselves down seven with 1:17 to go in regulation and scraped their way to an 8-1 run to tie the game up at 73 and send the game to overtime. Kentucky Wesleyan pulled ahead with 3:22 left in the extra period and held on to win.
 
The Pioneers finish the 2019-20 season with an overall record of 17-13. The Panthers will meet Walsh University for the G-MAC Championship on Saturday and have a record of 13-15.
 
Recap:
After an Adam Goetz jump shot got things started for Kentucky Wesleyan, Malone jumped out to an 8-0 run. Sehill Mouliom dished an assist out to Marcus Ernst for a lay-up on the backside and Ernst found Eli Ramsey for a kick out three. Following that, Jaret Majestic splashed home a top of the key three to make it 8-2 with 16:53 remaining. Majestic then connected on an elbow jumper and a lay-up to give him a quick seven points.
 
Goetz and the Panthers clawed back into the game, knotting it up at 12 with his second three-ball of the evening. The whistle of the game came with 12:38 to go in the first half with the score 17-15 Pioneers.
 
Majestic hit a second three-point shot to make it 20-15 coming out of the timeout. Malone connected on its first four attempts from beyond the arc to give them a slight advantage.
 
Goetz continued on his offensive onslaught midway through the period, scoring on a backdoor cut, a deep three and a driving lay-up to give him 17 first half points and a 26-24 lead. Malone responded with an 8-2 run, including a pair of shots from long range by Kenneth McCullough-Lomax Jr. and Bo Myers off of great ball movement from the Pioneers.
 
A driving lay-up from Daylan Haynie gave Malone a 34-32 lead heading into the locker room. The game featured five lead changes and five ties in the first half. Malone had 10 assists on 14 made field goals in the first half, led by Sehill Mouliom with three.
 
A free throw from Marcus Ernst and the 100th three-pointer of the season for Jaret Majestic extended the lead for Malone at 38-32 coming out of the half. Minutes later, a pair of rim-rocking dunks would spark the Pioneers.
 
Sehill Mouliom rose up in transition and gave a Panther defender a facial with a tomahawk slam. Off a pick and roll, Marcus Ernst slammed one off of two feet and Malone would take a 43-36 advantage.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan would hit back-to-back longballs to trim the Pioneer lead to just one at 43-42 with 16:11 to play. A scoop lay-up from Haynie on the following possession fueled the Pioneers to go on a mini run of their own. A three from Majestic in the corner extended the game back out to six at 53-47.
 
With 6:33 left, Daylan Haynie pulled up from downtown on an isolation play to give Malone its largest lead of the night at 63-55 and the teams would trade heavyweight blows for the rest of the time remaining in regulation.
 
Mouliom collected an offensive rebound and tipped it home for a dunk, but that was answered by Wyatt Battaile with a wing three on the other end. Adam Goetz and Zach Hopewell played outstanding second halves and a driving lay-up by Goetz followed by a three from Hopewell with 3:22 to play made it 67-65 Pioneers.
 
Bo Myers sank his second three-point shot of the night and a steal leading to a Marcus Ernst lay-up in transition extended the gap to 72-65, forcing Kentucky Wesleyan to call a timeout.
 
A pair of big time three-point shots from Jo Griffin and a jumper in the paint from Adam Goetz with 35 ticks left tied the game and sent it to overtime.
 
In the extra period, Zach Hopewell, Jo Griffin and Stew Currie each made a single free throw to give the Panthers an 80-76 advantage. Jaret Majestic hit a wing three from nearly 30 feet to give Malone a chance with 8.1 seconds left. Hopewell went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe on the offensive possession, but the long three to steal the win was off the mark and Kentucky Wesleyan clinched a spot in the G-MAC Championship game 81-79.
 
Game Highlights:
- Kentucky Wesleyan was very efficient from the field, shooting 31-of-63 (49.2%). Malone went 29-of-66 (43.9%). The Panthers went 10-of-21 (47.6%) from long range and the Pioneers 12-of-25 (48.0%).
- Malone scored 19 points on 14 Kentucky Wesleyan turnovers, while giving up only 11 points on 11 loose balls.
- The Panthers won the paint battle 42-30.
- Rebounds were even at 37 apiece.
 
Malone Individual Highlights:
- Jaret Majestic scored a team-high 24 points. The sharpshooter was electric from distance, knocking down six shots from three-point range, finishing the season with 103 total trey-balls. Majestic also brought down seven rebounds.
- Second Team All-Conference honoree Marcus Ernst finished with 17 points, a team-high nine boards and recorded four steals.
- Senior Sehill Mouliom accumulated 12 points and six total rebounds.
- Senior Daylan Haynie played all 45 minutes, scored 10 points and dished out six assists.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan Individual Highlights:
- Adam Goetz netted 26 points, was 11-of-16 from the field, hit four three-point shots, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists.
- Zach Hopewell scored 19 points, including 16 points in the second half and overtime.
- Sasha Sukhanov ended in double-figures with 10 points.
- Wyatt Battaile hit a pair of threes and secured nine boards.