CANTON, Ohio - In their final home game of the season the Malone University men's basketball team lost in overtime to the Ohio Dominican University Panthers 79-74. The Pioneers trailed by 14 with just 5:48 remaining in the game and came all the way back to tie it up at 69-69 and send the game to the extra period. Tate Aljancic made what the Osborne Hall crowd thought was the go-ahead three with less than one second remaining, but video review saw the call changed to a two-point field goal.
 
The win puts Ohio Dominican in better position to host a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Quarterfinal Round game at 19-8 and 13-6 in conference play while Malone is 14-13 and 7-12 inside the league. They are in must-win territory for their next game on Saturday, February 28 at Walsh University and will need some help from other results if they want to make the postseason.
 
Both teams came ready to play from the opening tip as each side made their first four field goals to tie the score at 9-9 less than four minutes in. The Panthers kept their foot on the gas pedal and took a 31-20 lead on smooth shooting from beyond the arc. A three by Aljancic just before the first half buzzer sounded made the score 40-31 at halftime.
 
Ohio Dominican was 16-for-29 (55.2%) from the field in the first half and 8-of-15 (53.3%) from deep in the first 20 minutes. The Panther bench had a 17-7 advantage at the time and had outrebounded Malone 18-12 in the period.
 
Baskets by Josiah Pierre and Joey DeGeorge cut the gap down to as little as five in the early goings of the second half, but the Panthers had answers on the offensive end. The lead slowly but surely built up to double figures before a crescendo at 67-53 with 5:48 on the clock.
 
The 17-2 run started with a trio of threes, first by Jake Bruns, then Aljancic and Bruns again to make the deficit five at 67-62. Austin Niekamp scored inside to counter a made jumper on the other end, and then DeGeorge made it a one-possession game at 69-67 with a triple.
 
A shooting foul with 31 seconds remaining set up the Pioneers to potentially tie the game. The front end of a one-and-one was missed, but an offensive rebound kept the possession alive. An attempt by Pierre was off the mark and then a scramble for the loose ball and Malone timeout gave the home squad a chance on an out-of-bounds play from underneath the hoop.
 
Aljancic started in the right corner and dribbled out to the elbow with seemingly nowhere to go. He stepped back and calmly nailed a shot that would be reviewed and called a two with 0.4 seconds on the clock. A would-be game-winning field goal by the Panthers was off the mark to set up an extra five minutes of basketball at 69-69.
 
The teams combined for a 2-for-13 shooting effort in overtime and the difference in scoring came from Ohio Dominican's 8-for-8 mark at the charity stripe. Malone was 0-for-5 on attempts from three in the extra period. Niekamp gave the Pioneers a 72-71 lead with two successful free throws, but the Panthers netted eight of the final ten points to collect a 79-76 victory.
 
Malone had five student-athletes in double figures in the loss, led by Pierre with 16. Niekamp (14), Nic Williams (12), Bruns (10) and Aljancic (10) were the others. Aljancic's eight rebounds led the squad and Pierre was credited with a team-high four assists. The Pioneers had a 12-6 edge in points off of turnovers.
 
The final regular season contest will be in North Canton, Ohio for the 62nd Annual Mayors' Cup game against #15 Walsh in the National Association for Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll. Tip-off is at 3:00 P.M. immediately following the women's game beginning at 1:00 P.M.