Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team fell just short in its bid to post a road GLIAC win at Wayne State University (MI) on Saturday afternoon as the Pioneers were edged by the host Warriors in a 66-63 contest.

A seesaw battle for most of the opening stanza saw Wayne State hold a 33-29 advantage at the intermission before the hosts started to pull away in the final period.  The Warriors opened up numerous double-digit leads in the second half, including a pair of 12-point advantages, the latest of which was a 53-41 margin with 10:23 left in the game. 

But Malone bounced back to cut its deficit to just three, at 56-53, with 4:14 remaining.  From there, the hosts again appeared to be pulling away, scoring the next five points, to go up 61-53 at the 2:54 mark.  WSU still held an eight-point lead with just 1:12 left, at 63-55, before the Pioneers would make one last run to snare the victory.

A flurry of six quick points by Malone (a jump shot by guard Isiah Elliott and a pair of layups by forward Cory Veldhuizen) trimmed the deficit to 63-61 with 43 ticks remaining.  After a split on a pair of free throws by WSU, Elliott kept the Pioneers in a position to win with a layup with 36 seconds left as Malone trailed by just a point at 64-63. 

The hosts then knocked in a pair of free throws to grab a 66-63 lead with 30 seconds left. Malone would then have two chances at the basket in that final stretch, on either side of a steal by guard Che Richardson, but guard Christian Graves' three-point attempt with one second left was just off the mark, securing the 66-63 win for Wayne State.

With the loss, Malone fell to 5-5 overall and to 3-3 in the GLIAC while Wayne State improved to 6-3 overall and to 4-2 in GLIAC play.

Elliott paced Malone with a game-high 17 points to go along with six rebounds and a team-best three assists while center Daniel Wise followed with 14 points, tallying four rebounds as well. Veldhuizen recorded 10 points and two assists while also posting team highs in both rebounds, with nine, and steals, with three. In addition, center Brian Stone tossed in seven points, including a 3-of-3 effort from the floor.

For WSU, Gerald Williams-Taylor and Clark Bishop paced the team with 15 points apiece. Jamar Ragland grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds for the Warriors.

Field goal percentages were nearly identical with Malone holding a slight 41.9% (26-62) to 41.4% (24-58) edge over the Warriors.  WSU hit two more baskets than the Pioneers from long range, sinking six of 14 (42.9%) to Malone's four of 16 (25.0%).  The Warriors also held the edge at the free throw line, converting 12 of 15 (80.0%) to the Pioneers' seven of 12 (58.3%).  In addition, the two teams battled to a 37-37 draw on the boards.

Malone will next compete in a home GLIAC contest against Ferris State University (MI) (6-4, 5-1 GLIAC) on Thursday, January 9th at 8:00 p.m. Live stats will be available for this contest.