TIFFIN, Ohio – The Malone University men's basketball team wins on back-to-back nights with a 101-91 victory at Tiffin on Tuesday evening. After trailing by as many as 12 in the first, the Pioneers stormed back offensively with a 59-point second half. This is the fifth win in a row for Malone, the longest streak since November of 2018.
 
Marcus Ernst was nearly unstoppable in the paint and netted 27 points. He and Bryce Butler tied for the team lead in scoring.
 
With the win, Malone is 7-5 on the season and 6-5 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Tiffin falls to 5-9 overall and in league play.
 
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED:
A 9-0 run at the beginning of the game featured four different Malone scorers to make it 11-4 in the early goings. Tiffin battled back with an 8-0 scoring spurt of their own and the teams went even in the middle stages of the half.
 
Justin Miller knocked down a three to tie the game at 21 ten minutes into the game. From there, Tiffin converted eight of their next nine shots to take a commanding 40-28 advantage.
 
To get back in the game, the Pioneers turned to their senior forward Marcus Ernst to punish the Dragons inside. Ernst scored 12 straight points for Malone and a lay-up from Justin Miller forced Tiffin to use a timeout with two minutes remaining in the first. Both teams obtained a final basket in the first as Tiffin led 48-42 at the half. Ernst paced the Pioneers with 17 first half points.
 
The 59-point second half started with a 7-0 run on the first three possessions that pushed the lead back the Malone way at 49-48. Jaret Majestic reached the scoring column with a three-point field goal, then lay-ups from Bo Myers and Marcus Ernst in transition.
 
Aside from a pair of second half three's from Majestic, every other made field goal in the second half came in the paint. The second three-point shot of the half came at 15:32 and it gave Malone a 60-57 lead. The Pioneers did not look back from there and held the lead all the way to the end.
 
Bryce Butler and Jaret Majestic put the game away by going a combined 8-for-8 in the final 90 seconds from the charity stripe in the 101-91 winner.
 
PIONEER POINTS:

• Malone scored a season-high 70 points in the paint. The second most points inside this season came against ranked Hillsdale when the Pioneers scored 52.
• The Pioneers shot 65.7% (23-of-35) from the field in the second half. Malone finished the game at 56.3% (40-of-71).
• At the free throw line, the Pioneers went 17-for-20 (85.0%), including Bryce Butler, who went 11-for-11 by himself.
• Marcus Ernst was 13-for-17 from the floor on his way to scoring 27 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Ernst also distributed six assists, the most in a game this season for the senior.
• Bryce Butler's 27 points were accumulated on 8-of-12 from the field and 11 made free throws in as many attempts. Butler secured five rebounds and dished out six assists to tie for the team lead.

 
UP NEXT:
In the third of four games this week, Malone returns to Osborne Hall in hopes of knocking off NCAA DII #9 Hillsdale College. It is a men's and women's doubleheader beginning at 5:30 pm (women) and 8 pm (men).