CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University men's basketball team came up short in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) game versus Ashland University, 72-61. The loss drops the Pioneers to 5-8 overall and are 1-4 in league play. The Eagles are now above .500 at 7-6 and are 3-3 inside the conference.
 
The rebounding battle went to Ashland 41-28 but points in the paint were even at 26. Malone was able to force 17 turnovers and had just nine themselves, but that difference led to a 17-3 mark in points off miscues for the Pioneers.
 
Senior Simon Blair had a team-high 19 points and four assists to pace the offense. Classmate Ryan Bartley had 14 points to reach double figures. Seniors Fraser LaRocque and Tre Baumgardner III had seven rebounds each.
 
The Eagles nabbed an early lead, 10-5 in a low scoring first eight minutes of play. Senior Ed Wright II buried a three to cut into the Ashland lead and a trifecta from Baumgardner III knotted things up at 15 just before the under-eight media timeout.
 
The Eagles ended the first half on a 16-6 run to claim a 33-24 lead at the break. Malone would fight tough in the second half, but foul trouble would allow Ashland to get out to an 18-point advantage at 66-48 with under six minutes remaining.
 
The combo of Blair and LaRocque was fruitful as Malone erased half of the deficit at 70-61 thanks to defensive pressure. Head Coach Charlie Wallrapp used a timeout with 1:18 to play to try to rally the troops for another comeback in the final minutes. The hole the Pioneers put themselves in was just a little too deep as the Eagles slipped out of Osborne Hall with a 72-61 triumph.
 
The next game for Malone will be on Thursday, January 9 when the team takes on Cedarville University in a road contest beginning at 7:30 P.M.