The Malone College men’s basketball team took over sole possession of first place in the American Mideast Conference North Division standings after recording an important 78-68 victory at Daemen (NY) College on Friday evening (The Pioneers and Wildcats entered Friday’s contest in a first place tie with identical 5-1 conference records).  Malone then fell on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College by a final score of 85-71, but maintained its one-game lead in the division because Daemen lost at home on Saturday to Point Park (PA) University, 81-70.  Following the 1-1 trip to upstate New York, the Pioneers’ record now stands at 19-7 overall with a 6-2 mark in AMC North play.

 

In Friday’s win over Daemen, Malone went on an early 14-1 run to take a 20-8 lead midway through the opening stanza.  The Pioneers then stretched their advantage to as many as 18 points late in the first half before the Wildcats closed out the frame with five unanswered points to cut the deficit to 35-22 at intermission.  Daemen, which made just one of nine (11.1%) three-pointers in the first half, came out on fire from three-point rage in the second period, trimming Malone’s sizable advantage all the way down to 52-51 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.  The Wildcats then kept things close over the next few possessions, but were unable to take the lead before Malone went on a quick 8-0 run to regain control of the contest at 66-57 with just 4:51 to play in the final stanza.  Daemen cut the lead to six moments later after hitting its eighth trey of the second half, but Malone then proceeded to drain 10 of 12 free throws over the final 61 seconds to cement the crucial 78-68 road win.

 

Daemen converted on 50% (8 of 16) of its second-half three-pointers and finished the night with an overall field goal percentage of 42.9 (27 of 63), but struggled from the charity stripe throughout the evening, hitting just five of 15 (33.3%) free throws.  Malone committed a season-high 24 turnovers, but shot 51.8% (29 of 56) from the field and dominated the glass with an enormous 50-19 advantage in total rebounds.

 

Senior guard Ben Carver (Shelby H.S.) led the way for the Pioneers with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four steals.  With several teammates in foul trouble, sophomore forward Mark Young (Jackson H.S.) came off the bench to make a major contribution by posting a career-high 15 points to go with six boards, two assists, and two blocks.  Senior center Shane Humphrey (Loudonville H.S.) added 14 points and 11 boards for his second double-double of the season while senior forward Tyler Renner (Garaway H.S.) notched 12 points and six rebounds.  Ryan Henry scored a game-high 26 points for Daemen followed by Dewan Stroud, who tossed in 19.

 

In Saturday’s contest at Roberts Wesleyan, the host Raiders shot over 62% (15 of 24) from the field in the first half to build a commanding 40-28 lead.  Malone slowly chipped away at the sizable deficit in the second frame, getting to within four points midway through the final stanza at 54-50 before Roberts Wesleyan went on a 10-2 run to stretch its lead back to 12 points at 64-52.  Despite the Pioneers best efforts, the Raiders then sustained their double-digit advantage over the remaining eight minutes of the game to record the 85-71 victory.

 

Malone was unable to cool Roberts Wesleyan’s hot shooting throughout the afternoon as the hosts knocked down 55.1% (27 of 49) of their overall shot attempts, nine of 16 (56.3%) three-pointers, and 22 of 24 (91.7%) free throws.  Malone, meanwhile, shot 41.1% (23 of 56) from the field, 36.8% (7 of 19) from beyond the three-point arc, and 69.2% (18 of 26) at the charity stripe.

 

With six points in the contest, Humphrey became the 45th Malone men’s basketball player to eclipse 1000 career points and now ranks 45th on the Pioneers’ all-time scoring list with 1002 career points. 

 

Renner led Malone in Saturday’s game with 20 points (7-12 FG, 2-3 3PT FG, 4-7 FT) in addition to grabbing six rebounds.  Carver added 17 points and four assists while junior guard Zach Fanning (Garaway H.S.) posted nine points.

 

Brandon Jones paced five Raiders in double-figures with 21 points (7-10 FG, 1-1 3PT FG, 6-6 FT), eight assists, and three steals.  Jake Liebman added 17 points and Benjamin Lewis notched 13 points and five assists.

 

Playoff Picture: Malone is currently in the driver’s seat in the AMC North, holding a one-game lead over Daemen and Notre Dame (Ohio) College with two division games remaining on each team’s regular season schedule.  The Pioneers could potentially clinch the North Division Title on Tuesday if they tally a victory in their game with Notre Dame AND Daemen loses its contest at Houghton (NY) College.   The AMC postseason structure has changed this year with only two automatic bids to the NAIA Division II National Tournament up for grabs (instead of three because the AMC fell below the 16-team minimum this year that the NAIA requires for a conference to receive three automatic bids).  One of the two automatic bids will be awarded on Feb. 26 when the North Division champion visits the South Division Champion.  The loser of this game will then be sent to the six-team AMC Tournament as the automatic #1 seed.  The rest of the AMC Tournament field will consist of finishers 2 and 3 in the North Division as well as finishers 2, 3, and 4 in the South. Those five teams will be seeded by a Seeding Committee.  The AMC Tournament will be contested on Feb. 28, March 1 and 4 with the top two seeds earning first-round byes. The tournament champion earns the second automatic NAIA national tournament bid.

 

This week, Malone (19-7 overall, 6-2 AMC North) will travel to Notre Dame (OH) College (12-14 overall, 5-3 AMC North) on Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m. before returning home on Saturday to face Houghton (NY) College (7-17 overall, 0-8 AMC North) in the regular season finale at 7:30 p.m.

 

This week’s opponents: Notre Dame- Malone has won all five of its previous meeting with the Falcons including a thrilling 67-65 victory at Osborne Hall earlier this season (February 2).  Houghton- The Pioneers lead the all-time series with the Highlanders 8-0 and defeated Houghton on the road earlier in the year (January 26) by a final score of 66-61.