NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- On Saturday, the Malone University men's basketball team played in their second Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament championship game in the last three seasons. 

The Pioneers led by double digits late in the second half, and appeared poised to clinch the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Unfortunately the Eagles came roaring back down the stretch, and pulled out an 82-78 win. 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Final Score: Ashland University Eagles 82 - Malone University Pioneers 78
• Records: Ashland (22-9, 15-5 G-MAC) | Malone (18-11, 11-9 G-MAC)
• Location: North Canton, Ohio | Alumni Arena

THE GAME
The Pioneers weathered an early storm by Ashland. 

The Eagles opened up the game with a three-pointer, and had that lead up to eight points near the twelve minute mark of the first half. 

Trailing 17-9 Malone embarked on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the evening. 

Caleb Conard sparked the run with a three-pointer, and Justin Miller capped it off with one of his five field goals from long range. The run also included four points from Levi Seiler. 

Both sides traded baskets for the next several possessions. Each time that Ashland tied Malone the Pioneers had an answer. 

That was, until the Eagles went on top 29-27 with 4:58 left to play in the half. The Eagles did not trail the rest of the half, and carried a 35-33 advantage back to the locker room. 

Coming out of the break it was all Malone early on. 

Bo Myers quickly erased Ashland's lead with back-to-back three-pointers. 

The Eagles were able to keep pace early on in the half, but it did not take long for Malone to start to stretch out a lead. 

With the score tied at 50-50 the Pioneers put together a 17-4 run over the next five minutes, and looked to be on the verge of closing out the game. 

Simon Blair's three-pointer at the 6:24 mark of the game gave Malone their largest lead of the night at 75-61. 

Unfortunately Ashland responded in a big way down the stretch. The Eagles outscored Malone 21-3 over the rest of the contest to pull out the 82-78 conference championship win. 

DETAILS

• Justin Miller capped off his Malone University career with a game-high 23 points. He also grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished out seven assists. The Tiffin University transfer only wore a Pioneer jersey for three seasons, but still ends his career as part of Malone's 1,000 point club.
• Simon Blair finished with 17 points. He was 5-6 from beyond the three-point line. 
• Bo Myers added 16 points. The senior, who played in 110 games over the last four seasons has scored the twelfth most points in Malone men's basketball history. 
• Levi Seiler rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points. The senior who has started in all but one game over the last three seasons scored a career-high 354 points this year.

FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
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