OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Malone University men's basketball team was down by as many as 17 in the second half against Kentucky Wesleyan College, but climbed all the way back out of that hole to take a lead with just over five minutes remaining. The Pioneers would ultimately come up short 74-72 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) contest, but had a shot for the win go up just before the final buzzer sounded.
The loss drops Malone to 8-11 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The home win for the Panthers moves them to 14-4 on the year and 8-2 inside the G-MAC.
Kentucky Wesleyan opened the game on a 10-2 run and did not trail for the duration of the first half.
Jake Bruns buried a three to keep the Panthers within reach, but the Panthers got hot from long range to extend the gap. Three straight three-point plays by Kentucky Wesleyan made it 27-14 with 8:30 on the clock.
A pair of timeouts called by Head Coach
Charlie Wallrapp late in the period helped to keep the game from getting out of hand, but at the break the Pioneers trailed 41-26. The Panthers shot 14-for-26 (53.9%) from the field in the half and hit 6-of-9 attempts from distance as well as all seven free throw attempts.
Malone gave up a pair of scorers to open the second half to go down by 17 with 18:05 left, but six straight makes and 15 unanswered points nearly erased the deficit entirely in just five minutes of game clock.
Ryan Bartley was true on back-to-back three-point attempts, followed by good jump shots from
Simon Blair and
Tre Baumgardner III. Blair found
Caleb Conard for a dunk on the next possession and Baumgardner III ended the scoring spree with a three to cut the deficit to 45-43.
Kentucky Wesleyan built their lead back up to eight at the halfway point in the period, but once more the Pioneers got hot. A pair of three's by Baumgardner and an and-one by Blair knotted it up at 58 apiece with 6:14 left to go. Bartley knocked down a three on the team's next possession to give Malone their first lead of the game at 61-60.
In a game of runs, the Panthers scored eight straight to make the time in front short-lived. Down five going into the final minute, Blair connected on a three to make it a two-point game, 71-69. A layup by Blair was a good response to two makes at the charity stripe by Kentucky Wesleyan, but the second intentional foul situation saw the Panthers miss one to keep Malone within one possession, 74-71.
Kentucky Wesleyan forced Blair to the free throw line for two shots and after making the first, the Pioneers rebounded the intentional miss and had a chance to tie or take the lead with one second on the clock. The inbound pass went to Conard, but a heavily contested three was off-target and the Panthers held on for victory, 74-72.
Baumgarner III and Blair had 20 points each to pace the offense. Bartley (13) and Conard (10) were also in double-figures. Despite the loss, Malone won the paint battle 26-22 and had 13 points off 10 Kentucky Wesleyan turnovers.
The Pioneers return home for their next game against Lake Erie College on Thursday, January 30. Tip-off is set for 7:30 P.M. immediately following the conclusion of the women's game.
