CANTON -- The Malone University men's basketball team opened up the final stretch of the 2021-22 regular season on Saturday by hosting the Ashland University Eagles in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) action. 

The Eagles (17-8, 13-5 G-MAC) opened up a double-digit lead midway through the first half, and kept the Pioneers (17-7, 12-5 G-MAC) at bay down the stretch to pick up the 81-71 win. 

The loss snaps Malone's home winning streak, which had stood as the second-longest in the country at seventeen straight games. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ashland entered with the G-MAC's top scoring defense, and they made things difficult for the Pioneers most of the afternoon.

Offensively, the Eagles found most of their success beyond the three-point line. Three of Ashland's first four field goals were triples. AU would ultimately go on to shoot 14-28 from beyond the arc. 

The Pioneers kept pace early on in the first half however. Bo Myers found the bottom of the basket for three points to put Malone up 14-13 at the 14:00 mark of the half. 

Ashland countered with a layup on the other end of the floor, and unfortunately the Pioneers never led again.

That layup was part of a 15-3 run by the Eagles that gave Ashland their first double-digit lead of the afternoon. 

The Eagles' lead grew to as many as fifteen points in the first half before Malone countered. 

A quick 10-2 run by the Pioneers, that included triples from both Bryce Butler and Bo Myers, cut the deficit down to just seven points. 

Unfortunately the Eagles scored the final six points of the half, both on three pointers, to carry a 43-30 advantage back into the locker room. 

AU continued to find a lot of offensive success early on in the second-half. Less than four minutes into the half the Eagles led by nineteen points. 

With just under thirteen minutes to play in the game Malone started to make their run.

The Pioneer defense held the Eagles scoreless for almost three full minutes which allowed MU's offense to find some success. 

With still over ten minutes left in the game the Pioneers had the deficit down to ten points. 

Less than two minutes later, after back-to-back baskets from Butler, Ashland was clinging to a 65-59 advantage. 

Malone got to within four points on a pair of Levi Seiler free throws which made it 69-65 with 3:45 left in the game, but it was all Ashland down the stretch. 

The Eagles pulled away one final time for the 81-71 win.


PIONEER POINTS

• For the second consecutive game Bryce Butler was the high-scorer for Malone. He finished with 20 points on 9-18 shooting from the field. 
• Marcus Ernst notched his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 17 rebounds. The 17 boards tie a career-high. He also had three blocks on the defensive end of the floor, pushing him over 100 career blocks. He is now the only player in the history of Malone men's basketball to score at least 1,000 career points, pull down at least 1,000 career rebounds, and record at least 100 blocks. 
• Bo Myers (15 points), Levi Seiler (14 points), and Justin Miller (10) points were the other double-digit scorers for the Pioneers.
• Malone dominated Ashland inside the paint, outscoring the Eagles 38-24 underneath the basket. Unfortunately the 14 made three's by Ashland compared to just seven for Malone proved to be the difference in the outcome. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone will host three games next week to close out the 2021-22 regular season slate. First up, the University of Findlay comes to town on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.