ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Malone University men's basketball team overcame an early deficit to defeat the Grand Valley State University Lakers on Wednesday in non-conference action, 57-55. Senior Jake Bruns knocked down a three-point field goal at the buzzer on an inbounds pass from junior Nic Williams to send the team to 8-2 overall. Grand Valley State, who was receiving votes in the most recent National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, falls to 7-2 this season.
 
The Pioneers struggled out of the gates and fell behind 22-4 in the first 12 minutes. Senior Emmanuel Oladeru and sophomore Joey DeGeorge had the lone points for the road squad. A three from Williams helped give Malone life in the late stages of the period.
 
Bruns found sophomore Kellen Leake for three on two of the final three possessions to cut the gap to 33-22 at the end of the first half. The Pioneers were held to 8-of-27 (29.6%) from the field, but four of those makes were from long range.
 
In the first five minutes of the second half, Grand Valley State would extend their lead to 18 once again at 44-26, but the final 15 minutes saw the defense lock in and allow just 11 points to the Lakers from there. Malone scored on five straight trips down the floor, with junior Josiah Pierre having scored or assisted on 7-of-11 points, to make it 49-37 Lakers with 11:32 to go.
 
Freshman Crew Cain found the bottom of the net for a triple to spark seven straight Pioneer points and get the team to within striking distance at 52-46. The final Grand Valley State field goal of the game came with 5:49 to play and Malone finished the game on an 11-1 run.
 
Pierre backed his man down for a bucket to cut the Laker lead to 55-54 with less than two minutes on the clock, and the teams traded stops back and forth in the final seconds. Ultimately with 11 seconds to go, Head Coach Charlie Wallrapp used a timeout to draw up a play the final shot. That opportunity never developed and all looked lost with the ball out of bounds on the far side with 0.8 seconds to go, but the Pioneers remained in possession of the basketball. Each team showed some gamesmanship with a timeout, but it was a defensive breakdown by Grand Valley State on a back screen by Bruns that set the senior up for the game-winning trifecta at the top of the key.
 
Pierre was the key piece to the comeback effort with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Williams and Bruns had 10 points each. Malone had 11 second chance points in the second half and won the rebounding battle 41-32. The Pioneers also looked inside for 24-of-32 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes as well. The Lakers took 22 free throws and made 13 of them while the visiting Malone Pioneers were 2-for-2 at the charity stripe in the game.
 
Malone's final game before the Christmas holiday comes at home on Saturday, December 20. Wright State University-Lake Campus enters Osborne Hall beginning at 3:00 P.M.