HILLSDALE, Mich. – The Malone University men's basketball team fell short to the Hillsdale College Chargers 70-51 on Saturday. The Pioneers fall to 10-3 on the season while the Chargers improve to 5-7. In the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Malone stands at 3-2, and Hillsdale moves to 2-2.
 
The Pioneers had a rough start as Jacob Ernst gave the Pioneers their first points at 17:19 but trailed 5-2. Hillsdale would keep the pressure on and increase their lead to 13-2 with 14:32 left in the first half. Josiah Pierre and Logan Forbes would be added to the mix to make it 19-9 with 10:42 left on the clock.
 
The score differential slowly dropped as Nic Williams was able to find a jumper, and Crew Cain would nail a three-pointer to cut the Chargers' lead to 21-16 with 7:22 left in the half. Malone tried to rally with a three-pointer by Kellen Leake to get as close as four, but Hillsdale would not give up the lead. Malone headed into halftime behind the Chargers, 32-27.
 
The Chargers would then turn on the jets as they increased their lead to 41-30 in the first five minutes of the second half. Cain hit another three-pointer to keep the Pioneers around at 46-35 with 13:07 on the clock, but the Chargers would keep their momentum. The home team led 55-38 at the halfway point in the period.
 
Nick Wigton, Austin Niekamp and Tate Aljancic scored late in the contest, but Malone was unable to climb out of the hole they dug themselves. The Pioneers would finish the game with a 70-51 loss, their lowest scoring game of their season.
 
Hillsdale was very efficient from the field at 25-for-47 (53.2%) while Malone was restricted to 19-of-53 (35.8%). The Pioneers did not have a scorer in double figures, but Pierre led the way with nine points. Emmanuel Oladeru grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
 
Malone looks to regroup as they take on the Northwood University Timberwolves in another G-MAC matchup on Monday, January 5. Tip-off time is at 7:30 P.M.