UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- The Malone University men's basketball team closed out their Michigan road trip on Saturday afternoon by taking on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals in non-conference action. 

The Pioneers (0-2, 0-0 G-MAC) found themselves down 47-39 at halftime, and despite outscoring the Cardinals (1-1, 0-0 GLIAC) in the second half could not complete the comeback in an 85-80 loss. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Malone made use of the three-point line early on, as all three of the Pioneers' first baskets were triples. When Bo Myers found the bottom of the net Malone led SVSU 9-4 just over two minutes into the game. 

The Pioneers continued to lead for the majority of the first half, but were unable to really put any distance between themselves and the Cardinals. 

The lead was never larger than six points as SVSU was able to match anything Malone did offensively. 

Eventually the Cardinals' defense got a couple of stops, and converted a handful of chances on the offensive end to grab a 27-25 lead with 6:28 to play in the half. 

The go ahead basket was actually part of a 13-2 run that helped Saginaw push their advantage out to 37-27. 

The Pioneers found their rhythm on offense late in the half, but struggled to get many stops defensively. SVSU continued their hot shooting, and carried a 47-39 lead back to the locker room at halftime.

The Cardinals quickly pushed their lead back out to double-digits coming out of the break, and actually led by as many as 14 points with 13:32 left to play in the contest. 

Justin Miller scored six of Malone's next eight points to help get the Pioneers back into the game. He connected on a three-pointer with 10:30 to play. He was fouled on the shot, and made good on the four-point play to trim the SVSU lead down to 63-57. 

The Cardinals scored a layup, but were assessed a technical foul on the play. Jaret Majestic buried both of the free throws, and then Miller made a jumper on the ensuing offensive possession for Malone to make it a 65-61 game. 

Unfortunately a a quick 6-0 run from SVSU had the Cardinals back on top by double digits with less than seven minutes to play.

This time around the Cardinals led by as many as twelve points, but the Pioneers refused to go quietly. 

Bo Myers hit a three-pointer to make it 78-72. Levi Seiler came up with a steal on the defensive end, and Miller made a layup to cut the deficit to four. 

The Pioneers forced another turnover, this time it was Majestic who came up with the loose ball. The Malvern, Ohio native hit a pair of free throws on the other end for Malone which made it a one possession game. 

As was the case most of the second half however, the Cardinals were able to answer every run by the Pioneers. SVSU outscored Malone 7-4 inside the final minute to hang on for the 85-80 win. 

PIONEER POINTS

• Justin Miller poured in a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers. The redshirt senior finished 10-19 from the field. 
• Bo Myers was 5-10 from beyond the three-point arc, and was 9-16 overall to finish with 24 points. 
• Myers and Levi Seiler each had a team-high seven rebounds.
• Overall the Pioneers pulled down 14 offensive rebounds which led to 14 second-chance points. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone will play their home opener on Wednesday night against Wheeling University. Tip-off from Osborne Hall is set for 8:00 p.m.