Men’s Basketball Tallies Four More Victories To Stretch Winning Streak To Seven Games
The Malone College men’s basketball team won all four of its contests over Christmas break to stretch its winning streak to seven games. The Pioneers picked up a 89-79 home win over Myers University on Tuesday, December 19th and then recorded their first American Mideast Conference South Division victory of the season on Thursday, December 21st with a 102-90 win at Urbana University.
Malone then traveled to California the week after Christmas to compete in the Cal State East Bay Classic. The Pioneers opened play at the event on Friday, December 29th with a 75-67 win over California State Maritime Academy before defeating the tournament’s host (Cal State East Bay) 88-75 on Saturday, December 30th. After recording a 4-0 mark over the break, Malone is now 11-4 overall and 1-2 in the AMC South Division.
Against Myers, Malone took a 16-point lead midway through the first half before the Mustangs stormed back late in the period to cut the Pioneers’ advantage to 44-41 at halftime. Myers kept the score close in the second stanza but only made two of its 13 second half three-point attempts in the 89-79 defeat. Five Malone players scored in double figures in the contest, led by guards Ben Carver (Jr., Shelby H.S.) and Jesse Schlabach (Sr., Lake H.S.), who each tallied 18 points. Junior post player Shane Humphrey (Loudonville H.S.) added 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks while junior post player Tyler Renner (Garaway H.S.) recorded 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior forward James Hannum (Massillon Washington H.S.) came off the bench to contribute 11 points and four boards although the Mustangs held a slim 38-37 advantage in total rebounds. In addition, Carver dished out five assists and senior guard Chris Miller (Hiland H.S.) tallied nine points.
Against Urbana, the Pioneers used a 19-4 run midway through the first half to take a commanding 54-36 halftime advantage. The Blue Knights fought back in the second stanza, though, as they cut Malone’s lead to just five with over three minutes remaining in the game before the Pioneers were able to pull away for the 102-90 victory. Urbana struggled to contain Malone’s offensive attack throughout the evening as the Pioneers made 33 out of their 52 field goal attempts (63.5%), including eight out of 11 shots (72.7%) from behind the three-point arc. Renner led the way for Malone with a game-high 29 points (13-19 FG, 0-1 3PT FG, 3-3 FT) in addition to pulling down 12 rebounds. Carver followed with a career-high 26 points (4-7 FG, 4-5 3PT FG, 14-15 FT) to go with six rebounds and three assists. Schlabach added 13 points while Miller contributed 12. In addition, Humphrey tallied nine points, six rebounds, and four assists to help the Pioneers outrebound Urbana 37-33.
Against California State Maritime, Malone was able to take command early on with a 13-0 run in the opening minutes of the contest. The Pioneers maintained a sizable 34-22 lead at halftime and then stretched their advantage to as many as 17 points in the second half before California Maritime fought back with a 14-2 run that trimmed Malone’s lead to 58-55 with three minutes remaining. The Keelhaulers were unable to get any closer, though, as the Pioneers pulled away over the final minutes to claim the 75-67 victory. Humphrey led five Malone players in double figures with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Schlabach also posted 16 points with five rebounds while Carver tallied 14 points and five assists. Miller came off the bench to contribute 13 points and sophomore Jarrod Ferwerda (Lake H.S.) added 10 points. In addition, Renner recorded six points, six assists and five rebounds.
Against Cal State East Bay, Malone trailed 42-37 at halftime thanks to Cal State East Bay’s 62.1% (18-29) first half field goal percentage. Malone’s defense cooled this hot shooting in the second half, though, as Malone outscored the tournament’s host 51-33, holding Cal State East Bay to just 31.0 % (9-29) shooting in the second half of the 88-75 victory. Renner led Malone with 23 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Humphrey followed with 14 points while Miller and Ferwerda each posted 13 points. Carver tallied 11 points, three assists and three steals. Malone dominated the paint throughout the game as Hannum and Ferwerda each pulled down seven boards to help Malone outrebound Cal State East Bay 43-28. In addition, Schlabach contributed nine points and five assists.
This week, Malone (11-4, 1-2 AMC S) will host Shawnee State University (9-6, 3-1 AMC S) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to the University of Rio Grande (7-9, 2-2 AMC S) on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. contest.
This week’s opponents:
Shawnee State- Malone leads the all-time series with the Bears 26-9 although the two teams split last year’s match-ups with Shawnee State winning the first meeting 70-65 (at Malone) and the Pioneers taking game two 79-65 (at Shawnee State). The two programs have split the season series for each of the last five years.
Rio Grande- The Redmen hold a 39-36 lead in the all-time series with Malone. The two squads split last year’s meetings with Rio Grande taking game one 80-77 (at Malone) and the Pioneers winning game two 71-65 (at Rio Grande). The Redmen have won four out of the last six contests between the two schools.
Pioneer Notes: Tyler Renner leads the team in scoring at 19.3 points per game followed by Ben Carver at 14.7 and Chris Miller at 11.3…Renner also paces the squad in rebounding with 8.4 boards per outing followed by Humphrey at 6.4…Renner needs just seven more points (as of Jan. 1) to reach 1000 career points at Malone...Carver leads the team in assists with 4.0 per game.
