CANTON -- The Malone University men's basketball team wrapped up the 2021-22 regular season on Saturday by hosting the Ohio Dominican University Panthers. 

Malone (18-9, 13-7 G-MAC) led by nearly thirty points midway through the second-half, but had to hold off a huge comeback effort from the Panthers (7-21, 4-16 G-MAC) late in the game to secure the 89-80 win. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The first-half woes that have plagued the Pioneers as of late were non-existent on Saturday. It took less than five minutes for Malone to grab their first double-digit lead of the afternoon. 

Bo Myers connected on the game's first three-pointer to put MU up 13-4. Marcus Ernst then came away with a steal, and finished a layup on the other end of the floor to make it 15-4 Malone at the 15:07 mark of the first-half. 

The Panthers recovered and started to keep pace with the Pioneers, but still Malone never relinquished their lead. 

After ODU pulled to within four points at 35-31 with 2:45 to play in the period, the Pioneers answered with an 11-2 run to close the half. 

The run included four points from Bryce Butler, which helped give Malone the 46-33 advantage at the break. 

Ohio Dominican opened up the second-half with a triple, but the Pioneers responded in a big way. 

Jaret Majestic hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Eli Ramsey and Butler also connected on long-range shots of their own, as Malone's first four field goals of the second-half came from beyond the three-point line. 

Bo Myers gave the Pioneers their first twenty-point lead of the afternoon on a layup, and by the 13:33 mark of the second-half MU's advantage stood at 71-44 thanks to another Majestic trey. 

Unfortunately Malone's offense hit a dry spell. Justin Miller's jumper with 9:55 left to play in the game was the last made field goal of the afternoon for the Pioneers. 

Meanwhile on the other end, ODU's offense started clicking. 

With 2:28 left to play in the game the Panthers had MU's lead down to 81-72. They then pulled within just seven points with 1:10 still remaining in the game. 

In the end however, the Pioneers did what they needed to do to close out the regular season with a win. 

Malone was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line inside of the final 45 seconds to help secure the 89-80 win.

PIONEER POINTS

• Marcus Ernst turned in his fourth straight double-double performance with a game-high 25 points and a career-high 20 rebounds.
• Justin Miller added 18 points and 5 assists offensively. He also led Malone's defensive efforts with 3 steals.
• Bryce Butler finished with 17 points. He also pulled down six boards and dished out four assists. 
• Jaret Majestic rounded out the double digit scorers for Malone with 11 points. 
• Eli Ramsey and Tracey Sumner were honored prior to the game as part of Senior Day. Ramsey finished with 5 points, and Sumner added 3 in the Pioneers' win. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone has earned the No. 4 seed in next week's Great Midwest Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. 

The Pioneers will host the No. 5 seed University of Findlay on Tuesday night inside Osborne Hall. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

2022 Great Midwest Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Bracket.