Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team (8-7, 6-5 GLIAC) picked up its second consecutive GLIAC win on Thursday night behind a 19-point effort from sophomore Christian Graves and 16 points and a season-high tying eight assists from senior Isiah Elliott to defeat Tiffin University (6-10, 2-9 GLIAC) 89-84.

The Pioneers weathered a 42-point outing from Tiffin's hot-shooting guard, Joe Graessle, to capture the win. Graessle dazzled in the loss, connecting on 14-of-19 shots, including 7-of-8 three-point attempts.

Head coach Tim Walker's decision to give sophomore center Brian Stone his first start since December 14th paid immediate dividends for the Pioneers. The big man responded to Walker's vow of confidence by pouring in a career-high 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half, to keep the Pioneers neck-and-neck with the Dragons. Leading 38 to 36, Malone closed the half on a mini 5-0 run, thanks to a jumper from Elliott and three-ball from Graves, to take a 43-36 lead into intermission.

In the second half, Malone started to widen the margin with some sharp shooting from three-point range. Leading 47-42 the Pioneers hit back-to-back-to back three-pointers on three consecutive trips to expand the lead to 14 points. They would take their largest lead of the game, 17 points, on an Elliott jumper with 13:48 to play, but Graessle and his companions refused to go quietly.

The Pioneers held an 85-78 lead with under 20 seconds remaining but a long three from Graessle cut the lead to four. After Graves knocked down a pair at the line, Graessle cut the lead to three with seven seconds to play on another desperation heave that somehow found nylon. However, senior Daniel Wise, who finished with nine points off the bench, showed great poise in knocking down two free-throws to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore Brandon Bapst and senior Vince Kazmierczak were crucial off the bench for Malone, combining to go 6-8 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points each. Between Wise, Bapst, Kazmierczak, and sophomore Jason Miller, the Pioneer bench managed to outscore the Dragon bench 32 to 4, while connecting on 11 of their 17 shots.

For the game, Malone shot 28-51 (54.9%) from the field and 12-23 (52.2%) from behind the arc. The 12 three-pointers also tied a season-high.

Tiffin, thanks to Grassle's 73.7% shooting, finished 33-60 (55.0%) from the floor and 8-10 (80%) from deep.

The Pioneers will try to run their win streak to three when they welcome the Ohio Dominican Panthers to Osborne Hall at 3:00 pm on Saturday.  Live video and stats will be provided during the contest at http://www.malonepioneers.com/sports/2010/8/9/GEN_0809102242.aspx?id=13