The Malone University men's basketball team picked up an 81-78 victory at Osborne Hall on Thursday night in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against visiting Tiffin University.

The Pioneers (10-14 overall, 8-10 GLIAC), who never trailed in the contest, took a 43-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime and then held off a late surge by the Dragons (7-17 overall, 3-14 GLIAC) to secure the three-point victory.

 Malone charged out to an early 16-6 advantage before Tiffin fought back into the contest, rattling off seven unanswered points to close the gap to 19-18 midway through the opening stanza.  Solid three-point shooting allowed the Pioneers to build their lead back to nine at halftime as the hosts knocked down nine of their 15 (60%) attempts from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes.

Guard Stephen O'Daniel III led the Malone charge, scoring 16 of his career-high 28 points during the opening period.  O'Daniel III buried six of his eight field goals in the first half, including four of five treys.  He finished the evening having made 10 of 15 shot attempts, including six of 10 from long range, plus both of his free-throw tries.

A dunk by center Brian Stone gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the game at 51-39 a little less than four minutes into the final stanza.  However, Tiffin refused to go away quietly, using an 8-0 run minutes later to cut the lead to 54-52.  A bucket by point guard Ben Haraway and another three by O'Daniel III stretched the Malone advantage back to seven.

The Pioneers were up 71-61 with just under five minutes to play when three consecutive Tiffin steals led to six straight Dragon points, cutting the margin to four.  Forward Mitch Spotleson answered with a bucket and Malone then hit eight of its next 10 free throws to make the score 81-75 with 12 ticks showing on the clock.

Tiffin would make things interesting in the final moments.  An Alex Brown three-pointer pulled the Dragons within three with six seconds left.  Following a quick foul and a pair of missed free throws by the Pioneers, Tiffin had one last chance, but the Dragons' desperation heave from near midcourt was off the mark as the final buzzer sounded, cementing Malone's 81-78 victory.

Overall, the Dragons shot 53.2% (33 of 62) on the evening compared to 46.3% (25 of 54) for the Pioneers.  Tiffin also held a slim 34-29 edge in total rebounds, but Malone made up for it by connecting on 48% (12 of 25) of its three-pointers and 76% (19 of 25) of its free throws.

O'Daniel III's 28 points eclipsed his previous career-high of 23 which he registered earlier this season in a 77-74 home win over Wayne State (MI) University.  Spotleson also had a big night as the freshman tallied the second double-double of his collegiate career with a season-high 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Haraway finished with 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.  Stone also reached double figures with 10 points.

Brown recorded a team-high 23 points for the Dragons.  Guard Ashton Khan added 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Thursday's victory allowed the Pioneers to keep pace in their pursuit of a GLIAC Tournament spot.  With an 8-10 GLIAC record and four regular-season games remaining, Malone remains one game behind Walsh University and Northwood University, who are tied for the final GLIAC Postseason spot with 9-9 conference records.  The eight-team GLIAC Postseason Tournament field will be comprised of the top three teams from the North Division, the top three teams from the South Division, plus the two remaining squads with the best overall GLIAC regular-season records (regardless of division). 

Malone will be back in action on Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. road contest against Ohio Dominican University.  Fans can catch all the action live on the Malone Sports Network (radio broadcast on ESPN 990 AM and streaming audio on www.espn990.com).  ODU will also provide live video and live stats.