MIDLAND, Mich. -- The Malone University men's basketball team opened up the 2021-22 season on Friday night with a trip north to the state of Michigan, and a non-conference matchup against the Northwood University Timberwolves. 

Northwood (1-0, 0-0 GLIAC) held a slim one-point lead at halftime, but the Pioneers (0-1, 0-0 G-MAC) outscored Northwood in the second half to force overtime.

Unfortunately NU was able to pull out a 94-92 win in overtime. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Bo Myers set the tone early on for what would prove to be a historic night for the junior. He scored four of Malone's first six points of the game. 

The Timberwolves got their first-half lead out to as many as seven points on a layup with 7:22 left to play in the half, but a furious effort down the stretch from the Pioneers closed the halftime deficit. 

With NU up 34-39 Malone went on a quick 6-0 run to grab the lead. 

Eli Ramsey converted on a pair of free throws, and Justin Miller scored back-to-back baskets inside the paint to put Malone up 35-34. 

Northwood ended their scoring drought with a basket inside the final minute of the half, and the teams went back to the locker room for the break with the Timberwolves ahead 36-35. 

The two sides traded baskets early on in the second half, with neither side able to distance itself from the other.

A three-pointer from Jaret Majestic gave Malone their largest lead of the night at 50-46 with 14:34 to play. 

Northwood fought back however, and the Timberwolves actually held a seven-point advantage with less than nine minutes remaining on the clock. 

Malone continued to hang tough, and another Majestic triple put the Pioneers ahead 73-72. 

NU answered back with a quick 6-0 run to grab a 78-73 lead with just 1:25 to play. 

On the ensuing possession, Levi Seiler's layup made it a one possession game. The Pioneers still trailed 78-75 inside the final thirty seconds and were forced to send Northwood to the charity stripe in an attempt to extend the contest. 

The Timberwolves obliged with some less than stellar free throw shooting to keep Malone within just one shot.

With just five seconds remaining on the clock Majestic controlled a rebound and found Miller who connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. 

Northwood scored the opening two baskets of the overtime period, but Myers hit his third three-pointer of the night to bring Malone to within one point at 84-83. 

On the very next possession Simon Blair came away with a steal, and converted the fastbreak layup on the other end to put the Pioneers ahead 85-84 with 3:34 left in overtime. 

Malone's defense got another stop, and Seiler made good on a layup of his own to push the lead out to 87-84. 

The home team rallied back, and eventually hit a big three-point shot to go ahead 92-89 with just 33 seconds left. 

The Pioneers could not answer back offensively, and a couple of Northwood free throws made it 94-89. 

Majestic connected on his third three-pointer of the night to cut it down to 94-92 with just seconds remaining, but unfortunately Malone simply ran out of time and Northwood escaped with the win.

PIONEER POINTS

• Bo Myers' junior campaign is off to a strong start. The Rockbridge, Ohio native scored a career-high 33 points to lead all scorers. He was 13-19 from the field, and also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
• Simon Blair made the first start of his career, and finished with nine points. He was also extremely active on the defensive end with three steals. 
• Justin Miller (17), Jaret Majestic (15), and Levi Seiler (10) all finished in double-digits for Malone offensively. Miller and Majestic each had four assists to lead Malone. 
• The Pioneers forced Northwood into 18 turnovers, which led to 19 points on the other end of the floor. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers wrap up the current road trip tomorrow afternoon at Saginaw Valley State University. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.