CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- On Saturday afternoon, the Malone University men's basketball team wrapped up a weekend Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) road swing with a trip to Cedarville University. 

The Pioneers (12-4, 7-2 G-MAC) clung to a two-point lead at halftime, and closed out the Yellow Jackets (9-6, 5-3 G-MAC) down the stretch to escape with the 74-70 win. 

The victory allows Malone to remain alone atop the G-MAC standings. Walsh University stands in second-place with a 6-2 league mark, but the Pioneers hold the tiebreaker over the Cavaliers by virtue of MU's 69-53 head-to-head win earlier this season.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Yellow Jackets came out of the gate hitting on all cylinders, especially on the offensive end of the floor. 

Less than four minutes into the game Cedarville held a double-digit lead at 16-6. 

After Bryce Butler ended CU's run with a basket to make it 16-8, Malone's defense dug in. On the other end of the floor shots finally started to fall for the Pioneers. 

A three-pointer from Eli Ramsey cut Cedarville's lead down to 16-14, and just a couple of possessions later Marcus Ernst tied the game at 18-18 with his fastbreak layup. 

The teams swapped scores a couple of times before another triple from Ramsey gave Malone their first lead of the game at 25-22 with 8:50 remaining to play in the half. 

The Yellow Jackets fought back with a run, and actually led by as many as six points with less than three minutes left before halftime. 

Malone quickly rallied back however. 

A three-point bucket from Bo Myers followed by a fastbreak basket from Butler made it a one-point game. After the Pioneers got a defensive stop Myers hit another shot to put MU up 34-33 with 1:25 left in the half. 

Eventually Cedarville came back to tie the game, but a pair of free throws from Butler helped send Malone to the halftime break with a 38-36 lead. 

Butler opened up the scoring in the second half with two more points, but the early portions of the second-half really belonged to the Yellow Jackets. 

Less than two minutes into the half Cedarville reclaimed the lead, and they did not trail again for well over ten minutes. 

The home team's largest lead of the half was a 56-49 advantage at the 11:21 mark before a Malone comeback.

A bucket from Jaret Majestic jumpstarted what turned out to be an 8-0 run for the Pioneers. The run was capped off by a Marcus Ernst layup to put Malone up 57-56 with 7:12 left to play in the game. 

The lead changed hands several times, but when Bryce Butler broke a 65-65 tie with a score to put Malone up two points the Pioneers did not trail again. 

MU got their advantage up to as many as five points, and were able to hold off Cedarville down the stretch for the 74-70 win.


PIONEER POINTS

• Bryce Butler finished with a game-high 22 points. He was 8-16 from the field, and 6-7 from the free throw line. That effort pushed his season scoring average out to 17.5 points per game, which ranks him fourth overall in the G-MAC.
• Marcus Ernst finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games. 
• Bo Myers and Justin Miller each finished with 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers for the Pioneers.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers will return home next week. Malone is set to host Lake Erie College on Wednesday, January 19. Tip-off from Osborne Hall is slated for 7:30 p.m.