FINDLAY, Ohio – The (RV) University of Findlay Oilers felt comfortable shooting in their home gym with a 103-84 victory against the Malone University Pioneers on the opening night of Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play.
 
Findlay (6-1, 1-0 G-MAC) knocked down 17-of-30 (56.7%) shots from three-point range to pace the high-octane offense. Malone (3-4, 0-1 G-MAC) was not bad themselves with 10 successful tries from deep and 54.4% shooting for the game, a new season-high, but were unable to keep pace due to losing the turnover battle 14-9.
 
Senior Ed Wright II led the Pioneers with 25 points and six rebounds. Seniors Ryan Bartley and Tre Baumagarner III had 14 points each and redshirt junior Caleb Conard chipped in with 13 points. Senior Simon Blair distributed seven of the team's 12 assists. Senior Fraser LaRocque was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and had eight points off the bench.
 
The Oilers opened the game on a 10-2 scoring run but a trio of three's by Wright II and Baumgardner III brought Malone back into it at 13-13. Findlay continued their offensive onslaught to go up by as many as 16 with just over five minutes left in the first half.
 
The Pioneers worked the ball inside to the big men LaRocque, Conard and Bartley late in the period to cut the deficit down to single digits, but five straight points in the final 30 seconds for Findlay made it 52-38 at halftime.  
 
The Oilers extended their lead to a game-high 23 points less than five minutes into the second half at 68-45. The defense for Malone was doing all it could, but contested jump shots continued to fall and the Pioneers got tips, but not enough for the turnover and the Oilers would take advantage of a scoring opportunity.
 
Malone did not lay over despite the large gap and a fastbreak layup by senior Tahleik Walker forced the home squad to use a timeout to stop the bleeding at 68-52. The teams would get into a shootout coming out of the under-eight media timeout, but going score-for-score would not be enough for the Pioneers.
 
A pair of free throws by Wright II made it 94-83, the closest Malone had been since the first half, but there was not enough time to complete the comeback as the Pioneers ultimately fell 103-84.
 
Next up on the schedule is a contest against another team that is receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, the Hillsdale Chargers. Tip-off on Saturday, December 7 is set for 3:00 P.M. immediately following a women's basketball game between the two schools.