CANTON -- After playing three straight games on the road, the Malone University men's basketball team was back at home on Wednesday night. 

The Pioneers welcomed the Lake Erie College Storm to Osborne Hall for a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) matchup. 

Malone (13-4, 8-2 G-MAC) jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half, but had to hold off a furious comeback from Lake Erie (8-6, 2-5 G-MAC) down the stretch to secure the 71-66 win.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Less than three minutes into the game, eleven of the game's first thirteen points were scored by the Pioneers.

Bryce Butler capped off that 11-2 run with a layup on an assist by Bo Myers that forced Lake Erie to take an early timeout to stop the momentum. 

The Storm settled in on the offensive end out of the break, but still struggled to stop Malone's offensive attack. 

The two sides traded scores on a handful of possessions, but the Pioneers still held a clear advantage.

With just over twelve minutes remaining in the half, Elijah Hinton grabbed his own rebound and finished off the play with a layup. That basket gave Malone their first double-digit lead of the game at 19-9. 

After MU came away with a defensive stop on the next trip down the floor, Myers scored from inside the paint to give Malone their largest lead of the game at 21-9. 

The Pioneers' advantage continued to hover around double-digits for awhile, but a late run by the Storm tightened things up near halftime. 

Lake Erie got to within four points inside of five minutes to play in the half, and kept pace with Malone the rest of the way. 

Ultimately the Pioneers carried a 34-30 lead into the halftime break.

It took just over five minutes of the second half for Malone to build up another double-digit lead. Myers capped off an 11-2 MU run that gave the Pioneers a 47-37 lead with 14:42 to play in the game. 

Although Malone seemed to have completely regained control of the contest, Lake Erie refused to go quietly. 

The Storm dug in and made another run. LEC responded with ten of the next twelve points to make it a two-point game with well over ten minutes remaining. 

Lake Erie kept the pressure on, and actually held a three-point lead with less than five minutes left on the game clock. 

With Malone trailing 58-55, Butler connected on a three-pointer to tie the game. On the Pioneers' very next possession Butler found a wide open Justin Miller on the fastbreak. Miller drilled the three-point shot to put MU up 61-58. 

Malone never trailed again.

The Pioneers shot a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to put the finishing touches on the 71-66 win.  


PIONEER POINTS

• For the third time in the last four games Bryce Butler eclipsed the twenty-point barrier. He finished with a game-high 22 points to boost his season average to 17.8.
• Bo Myers scored 20 points, and pulled down 6 rebounds.
• Marcus Ernst added 10 points and 10 rebounds to finish with another double-double. 
• Dating back to last season, tonight's win was the sixteenth in a row for Malone inside of Osborne Hall. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers head right back out on the road next week. Malone will travel to Kentucky Wesleyan College on January 27 and Trevecca Nazarene University on January 29.