The Malone University men's basketball team fell by a 72-69 final in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against Ashland University at Osborne Hall on Saturday afternoon.

A pair of free throws with just under eight minutes remaining in the second half gave the Eagles (16-7 overall, 10-7 GLIAC) their largest lead of the day at 61-47.  The Pioneers (9-14 overall, 7-10 GLIAC) then fought back into game, outscoring Ashland 11-2 over the next four minutes to cut the margin to 63-58. A three-pointer by guard Jason Miller and a three-point play by fellow guard Jalen Miller got the run going for MU.

The Pioneers would twice close the gap to four over the next few minutes, the first time on a lay-up by forward Neil Gingerich with 2:55 showing on the clock that the made the score 67-63 and the second on a tip-in by Jalen Miller that pulled the hosts to within 69-65 with under a minute to play.  The Eagles then split a pair of free throws to stretch the gap to five, but guard Stephen O'Daniel III drained a clutch three-pointer on the Pioneers' next trip down the floor to make the score 70-68 with 40 ticks remaining.

Ashland managed to escape a strong full-court press by Malone and then, after being fouled, Eagle guard Brook Turson stepped to the line with 12.2 showing on the clock and drained two big foul shots to give the visitors some breathing room. 

Pioneer guard Ben Haraway was fouled on Malone's next possession.  With 5.2 to play, the freshman sank his first free throw before missing the second.  Malone grabbed the offensive rebound but was unable to convert on a last-second shot attempt, allowing Ashland to hang on for the three-point, 72-69 triumph.

Ashland never trailed during Saturday's game.  The Eagles led by as many as 13 points in the first half, pulling in front 36-23 with just over six minutes to play.  A 12-0 Malone scoring run whittled the deficit to just one at 36-35 but Ashland would then close the opening stanza on an 8-2 spurt for a 44-37 halftime lead.

After shooting over 50% during the first 20 minutes, Ashland cooled off in the second stanza, finishing the game at 39.6% (21 of 53).  Although Malone connected on 45% (27 of 60) of its field goals and held a commanding 43-29 edge in total rebounds, the Eagles took advantage of their frequent trips to the foul line, knocking down 24 of 29 (82.8%) at the stripe compared to 10 of 15 (66.7%) for the Pioneers.

Jalen Miller finished the afternoon with a career-high 15 points for Malone.  The senior connected on six of his eight field goals and all three of his foul shots while also grabbing eight rebounds.  Gingerich tallied the first double-double of his Pioneer career with 11 points and a career-high 10 boards.  Guard Nate Sheppard posted 10 points and forward Gus Simmers added seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds

Forward Wendell Davis and guard Adrian Cook each contributed 13 points for AU.

Saturday's victory kept the Eagles atop the GLIAC South standings while Malone remained fourth in the South and 10th overall.  The eight-team GLIAC Postseason Tournament field will be comprised of the top three teams from each division plus the two remaining squads with the best overall GLIAC regular-season records (regardless of division).  Walsh University currently possesses the final postseason spot in the South Division.  The Cavaliers are one game ahead of Malone in the standings with an 8-9 conference record.

The 2015 Malone Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees and their families were recognized at halftime of the contest.  This year's class, set to be officially inducted on Saturday evening, includes Steve Buso ('95, baseball), Jeff Jackson ('03, men's golf), Domenica (Langowski) McClintock ('02, women's soccer) and Kim (Slone) Miller ('01, volleyball).

Malone will be back in action at home on Thursday evening with an important 8:00 p.m. contest against Tiffin University.  Live statistics will be provided during the game.  Updates will also be available through the Malone Athletics twitter account (@maloneathletics)