CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University men's basketball team is now 2-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) following their 52-45 win against Tiffin University. The Pioneers are 6-1 overall and the Dragons are 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
To start the game,
Nic Williams hit a jumper that was answered by Tiffin to make the score 2-2. The teams would go back and forth until two buckets from the Dragons would put them up 10-7. A basket from
Jacob Ernst at the 13-minute mark brought Malone within one point, 10-9.
Tiffin took their largest lead of the afternoon at 23-15 with just over five minutes left in the period. The Pioneers then went on a scoring run with two back-to-back jumpers from
Josiah Pierre to tie up the game, 23-23. To end the half, each team hit a foul shot to make the score 24-24 at halftime.
A dunk from
Emmanuel Oladeru gave the Pioneers positive momentum to start the second half. The Dragons then had a scoring run which put them up 33-26 with 16:24 on the clock. Pierre put the team on his back offensively to go from down seven to up two at 36-34, but the lead would be short-lived. The Dragons used the foul line to their advantage to get back in front, 39-36.
Nine straight Malone points from Oladeru helped lead a 16-6 run for the team to seal the 52-45 win. Williams was 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in that stretch to keep Tiffin from getting to within one possession in the closing minutes of the game.
Malone won in second chance points (8-0) and points in the paint (24-14). The defense held the Dragons to just 30.0% (15-of-50) from the field and 8.3% (1-for-12) from three. The Pioneers outrebounded their opponents 43-32 in total.
Pierre ended the game with 22 points and nine rebounds. He shot 61.5% (8-for-13) from the field and 100% from the three (2-for-2). Williams was able to secure a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. With 13 points and eight rebounds was Oladeru, who shot 60% (6-for-10) from the field. Pierre and Oladeru each finished with three blocks.
Next, the Pioneers travel to Cedarville University on Thursday, December 11 for a G-MAC game. Tip-off will be at 7:45 P.M.
