FINDLAY, Ohio -- The Malone University men's basketball team made the trip out to the University of Findlay on Saturday afternoon for their first matchup this season with the Oilers. 

Findlay (15-7, 9-5 G-MAC) closed out the first-half strong to carry a six-point advantage into the break. UF controlled the second-half as well, as they topped the Pioneers (16-6, 11-4 G-MAC) going away by a final score of 96-72.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The lead swapped hands several times in the opening half, with neither side able to create a clear advantage. 

Bo Myers' was virtually unstoppable for the Pioneers in the opening twenty minutes. He connected on his first six attempts from the field, four of those came from three-point territory. 

However, Findlay was able to keep pace with a balanced scoring attack. 

The Oilers answered Myers' final trey of the first-half with two points on the other end to grab a 35-34 lead. UF then closed the half on a 7-2 run to carry a 42-36 advantage into halftime. 

It took less than four minutes in the second-half for Malone to have the deficit back down to a possession. Levi Seiler collected an offensive rebound, and put the ball back into the basket for two points to trim Findlay's lead down to 45-43. 

Both teams traded scores for a couple of possession before a three-pointer from Seiler made it 51-50 in favor of the Oilers with 14:13 still to play in the contest. 

Unfortunately things started to go sideways for Malone at that point. UF responded with a three-pointer of their own on the other end. That bucket was part of what turned out to be a 17-0 run by the Oilers that proved to be too much for the Pioneers to overcome. 

MU got it to within fourteen points a three different occasions, but the Oilers pulled away in the end for a 96-72 win.

PIONEER POINTS

• Bo Myers led all scorers with 21 points. That is the eighth time this season he has scored at least 20 points in a game. 
• Marcus Ernst finished with 17 points. He has now scored in double-digits in nine consecutive games. 
• Bryce Butler added 13 points, and he was tied with Justin Miller for the team lead with five assists. Butler continues to lead Malone in scoring at 17.1 points per game.
• Levi Seiler rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Pioneers with 10 points. He was just two rebounds shy of a double-double. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone will play the final road game of the 2021-22 regular season next week. The Pioneers travel to Tiffin University on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.