Women’s Basketball Defeats Kentucky Christian Before Suffering Overtime Loss At Ohio Dominican

     The Malone College women’s basketball team split a pair of road games last week, beginning with a 78-61 win last Thursday at Kentucky Christian University.  The squad then traveled to Ohio Dominican University on Saturday where they suffered a tough 78-75 loss to the Panthers in overtime.  Following the 1-1 week, the Pioneers’ overall record now stands at 9-2 with a 2-2 mark in the American Mideast Conference South Division.
     Against Kentucky Christian, Malone jumped out to a 37-24 halftime advantage thanks, in part, to its solid 48.4% (15-31) first half field goal percentage.  The Pioneers widened their advantage to 17 points in the second stanza, winning their ninth game of the season by the 78-61 final.  Senior forward Nikki Parson (Garaway H.S.) led the Malone offense with 20 points and 12 rebounds, marking her fifth double-double of the season.  Junior guard Nicki Sisson (Wayne Trace H.S.) followed with 14 points while junior forward Cara Shiplett (Northwest H.S.) tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals.  Sophomore forward Nicole Feher (Lutheran West H.S.) added seven points and six boards to help the Pioneers claim a 50-29 advantage in total rebounds.  Other significant contributors included senior guard Erica Mishler (Hiland H.S.) with eight points and three assists, junior guard Kellyn Murphy (Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) with six points and three assists, and sophomore guard Katie Murphy (Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.), who dished out five assists.
     Against Ohio Dominican, the Panthers used a 15-0 run early in the game to take a sizable lead midway through the first half before Malone battled back to trim the deficit to 36-33 at halftime.  The game remained close throughout the second stanza as the Panthers held a narrow three-point advantage with just 16 seconds left in regulation.  The Pioneers were able to send the game into overtime when Shiplett nailed a clutch three-pointer in the final seconds to tie the game at 66, marking her first and only three-point attempt so far this season.  The tables were turned, however, in the overtime period as Ohio Dominican made their own last-second three-point shot to break a 75-75 tie and claim the dramatic 78-75 conference victory at the buzzer.  Parson paced the Malone offense with a game and season-high 27 points (9-17 FG, 0-1 3PT FG, 9-12 FT) in addition to pulling down seven rebounds and collecting three steals.  Shiplett recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 16 rebounds while Kellyn Murphy added 15 points, six assists and three steals.  Ohio Dominican held a 55-45 advantage in total rebounds in the contest, although the Panthers committed 24 turnovers to the Pioneers’ 17.  
     This week, Malone (9-2, 2-2 AMC S) has just one game scheduled, a 2:00 p.m. match-up at Huntington (IN) University (6-4, 1-3 MCC) on Saturday.
     This week’s opponent: Huntington- The Foresters hold a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Pioneers although Malone won the last meeting between the schools 66-52 at the Siena Heights (MI) University Tournament on December 1st, 2000.
     Pioneer Notes: Nikki Parson leads the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game followed by Cara Shiplett at 12.3 and Kellyn Murphy at 10.4…Shiplett paces the squad in rebounding with 9.4 per outing followed closely by Parson at 8.9…Murphy leads the team in assists at 3.6 per game.

Men’s Basketball Tallies 1-1 Record During McKinley Grand Hotel Classic

     The Malone College men’s basketball team hosted the Canton McKinley Grand Hotel Classic this past weekend at Osborne Hall.  The action got under way on Friday as the University of Saint Francis (IL) defeated Geneva (PA) College 72-63.  Malone then faced NAIA Division II #8 Point Park (PA) University later in the evening, falling by a narrow 84-82 final.  On Saturday, Point Park outlasted Saint Francis 87-73 to extend its season-opening winning streak to 14 games.  Then, in the weekend’s final contest, Malone pulled away for an 84-70 win over Geneva.  With 12 points in Saturday’s victory over the Golden Tornadoes, senior guard Jesse Schlabach (Lake H.S.) surpassed 1,000 career points, becoming just the 41st player in Pioneer men’s basketball history to reach this milestone.  Following the 1-1 week, Malone’s overall record now stands at 5-4 with an 0-2 record in the American Mideast Conference South Division.
     Against Point Park, Malone took a six-point lead in the opening minutes of the contest before Point Park stormed back midway through the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 41-35 halftime advantage.  Point Park maintained a narrow lead throughout most of the second stanza until Ben Carver’s (Jr., Shelby H.S.) three-pointer tied the game at 80 with just under a minute remaining in the contest.  Malone surrendered a critical offensive rebound, though, in the final seconds after Point Park had missed two free throw attempts, allowing the visitors to escape with the narrow 84-82 win.  Junior post player Tyler Renner paced the Pioneers with a game-high 23 points (6-14 FG, 1-3 3PT FG, 10-12 FT) and 14 rebounds.  Junior post player Shane Humphrey (Loudonville H.S.) returned from injury to record 17 points, eight rebounds, and three assists while Schlabach followed with 14 points and three assists.  Carver contributed 13 points, four assists and four boards, although Point Park held a significant 58-35 advantage in total rebounds.
     Against Geneva, Malone held a slim 37-35 lead at halftime, but then used a 13-0 run early in the second half to take a commanding 16-point advantage en route to the 84-70 win.  Carver, who represented Malone on the All-Tournament Team, led the Pioneers with 16 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.  Schlabach followed with 12 points while senior guard Chris Miller (Hiland H.S.) also posted 12 points with three assists.  Renner added 10 points and four rebounds while sophomore forward Jarrod Ferwerda (Lake H.S.) tallied nine points and five rebounds. The Pioneers and Golden Tornadoes each pulled down 32 total rebounds in the game. In addition, Humphrey contributed seven points, four rebounds and three assists. 
     This week, Malone (5-4, 0-2 AMC S) will compete at the Hoops 4 Healing Classic hosted by Walsh University on Friday and Saturday.  The Pioneers will begin play on Friday with a 6:00 p.m. contest against Virginia Intermont (1-11) before facing Daemen (NY) College (5-5, 0-0 AMC N) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
     This week’s opponents: Virginia Intermont- Friday’s contest will mark the first-ever meeting between the Pioneers and the Cobras. Daemen- Malone holds a 10-5 lead in the all-time series with the Wildcats although Daemen has won two out of the last three meetings between the schools, including a 78-72 win over the Pioneers last season (at Malone).
     Pioneer Notes: Tyler Renner has tallied 20.2 points per game to lead a balanced Malone offensive attack that currently features five players that average more than ten points per outing…Renner also paces the squad in rebounding with 8.3 boards per game followed by Ben Carver at 5.6 and Shane Humphrey at 5.3…Carver leads the team in assists at 4.0 per game.

 

     The Malone College men's and women's indoor track & field teams, led by head coach Charlie Grimes, competed at Kent State University's Golden Flash Gala last Friday and Saturday and several Pioneer athletes posted NAIA automatic or provisional national qualifying marks in the process. 
     For the women, five athletes collected NAIA national qualifying marks.  Brittany Davies (Sr., Cedarville H.S.) led the way with a victory in the 800 meters in a time of 2:18.80, an NAIA automatic national qualifying mark.  Emily Alderfer (Fr., Urbana H.S.) was the other women's automatic qualifier as she posted a mark of 41' 9.25" in the shot put to win her flight.
     Laura McElrath (Jr., Tallmadge H.S.) and Brooke Gasser (Sr., Norwayne H.S.) notched provisional qualifying marks as they tallied 3074 points and 2956 points, respectively, in the pentathlon with third and fourth-place finishes.  In addition, Vallie Scott (So., West Branch H.S.) posted a provisional qualifying time of 58.81 seconds in the 400-meter dash.
     For the men's squad, two athletes earned NAIA provisional qualifying marks as Chris Hare (Sr., Coopersville, MI) posted 4313 points in the heptathlon (6th place), which was a new Malone record, and Chad Armstrong (Sr., Ashtabula H.S.) tallied a mark of 49' 7" in the weight throw.
     The Malone indoor teams will next compete in the Marietta College Open on January 20th, which begins a series of eight indoor meets leading up to the NAIA Indoor National Championships in early March.