CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University men's basketball program returned to Osborne Hall for their first home Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) game of the 2024-25 season on Monday afternoon. The Pioneers would come up just short to Kentucky Wesleyan College on a tip-in at the buzzer, 68-66.
 
Malone falls to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play while the Panthers are 7-2 and 2-0 inside the league.
 
The Pioneers dominated the painted area 34-16, led by Caleb Conard with a career-high 31 points and 13 rebounds. Despite the difference in paint points, Kentucky Wesleyan held a firm advantage in rebounding, 43-28. Malone scored 18 points on 13 Panther turnovers.
 
Conard scored the first 11 points for the Pioneers with a pair of three-point field goals. Simon Blair gave the team a 13-4 edge through the first four minutes. Kentucky Wesleyan would fight back to even at 17-17 at the halfway point in the period.
 
Ed Wright II and Jake Bruns each knocked down tries from beyond the arc late in the first, but the Panthers would claim a 34-29 lead at the break thanks to a dry spell offensively for the home squad. Malone was without a score over the final 4:55 of the period with seven consecutive misses.
 
The opposite would occur to begin the second half as the Pioneer defense locked in. Kentucky Wesleyan went more than six minutes without a point as Malone went on a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead, 39-34. A putback dunk by Conard highlighted this run.
 
The Panthers began to feel it as the half went on and took the lead for a majority of the second. Kentucky Wesleyan led by six at 66-60 with just 35 seconds left when the Pioneers made one final push to take the contest.
 
Blair soared to the rim for a layup and a turnover in the backcourt led to another basket, this one by Tre Baumgardner III. The senior guard would draw an offensive foul that set him up for the game-tying score with six seconds on the clock. The Panthers would respond by driving to the rim on the final possession and a missed layup was followed up for the game-winning field goal in the 68-66 loss.
 
It is a quick turnaround for Malone with a non-conference game with Glenville State University waiting in the wings. The battle between Pioneer teams will take place on Wednesday, December 18 at 4:00 P.M.