The Malone College men’s basketball team overcame a 10-point, second-half deficit in Saturday’s American Mideast Conference Tournament Semifinal game at Osborne Hall to record a thrilling 101-98 overtime victory against NAIA Division II No. 22 Mount Vernon Nazarene University.  With the three-point triumph, Malone (21-9, #1 seed) moves on to Tuesday night’s AMC Tournament Championship contest where the squad will host NAIA Division II No. 18 Cedarville University (21-7, #2 seed).  The Yellow Jackets advanced to the tournament’s final round after defeating Ohio Dominican University 81-67 in Saturday’s other semifinal. Tuesday’s contest at Malone is slated to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament.

 

Mt. Vernon Nazarene (23-7, #4 seed) led Saturday’s contest 74-64 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half before an 11-1 Malone run knotted the score 75-75 at the 6:07 mark of the final stanza.  The Cougars immediately responded to this Pioneer surge by outscoring Malone 8-4 over the next three minutes to pull ahead 83-79. The visitors would not score over the remainder of regulation, however, and Malone quickly tied the game back up at 83-83 with clutch buckets by senior forward Tyler Renner (Garaway H.S.) and senior guard Ben Carver (Shelby H.S.).  Each team had a pair of possessions in the final 90 seconds of the second half, but neither squad could break the 83-83 tie before the buzzer sounded, sending the hard-fought postseason contest into overtime. 

 

Mt. Vernon Nazarene pulled out to an 87-85 lead in the opening moments of the extra frame before the hosts rattled off eight unanswered points to grab a 93-87 advantage with 1:38 remaining in overtime.  The Cougars trimmed the deficit to three on their next trip down the floor as Mt. Vernon Nazarene guard Brandon Short drained a free throw after being fouled on a made lay-up.  Junior guard Andrew Weaver (Hiland H.S.) answered back for the Pioneers seconds later by hitting a clutch three-pointer that pushed the lead back to six at 96-90.  After each squad exchanged lay-ups on its next possessions, Weaver split a pair of free throws with 24 ticks remaining on the scoreboard to give Malone a commanding 99-92 advantage.  The Cougars were not ready to surrender just yet, though, as Mt. Vernon Nazarene guard Ben Falkenberg nailed his seventh three-pointer of the night on the visitors’ ensuing possession to cut the deficit to four at 99-95.  Following a quick foul, junior forward Jarrod Ferwerda (Lake H.S.) calmly stepped to the charity stripe and hit both of his attempts to stretch the Pioneers’ lead back to six at 101-95.  Falkenberg flew down the floor and pulled the Cougars to within three points at 101-98 after being fouled on a made basket and then hitting the ensuing free throw with 13 seconds to play.  Following a pair of missed free throws on the hosts’ next possession, Mt. Vernon Nazarene got off two game-tying, three-point attempts in the final moments, but neither shot would fall as Malone held on for the dramatic 101-98 victory.

 

The Pioneers’ 101 points matched their season high for scoring as the squad made 35 of its 74 (47.3%) overall field goal attempts on the night, including five of six (83.3%) shots from the field in overtime.  Malone fared well from three-point range as it hit eight of 17 (47.1%) shots from beyond the arc, draining both of its three-point attempts in the extra period.  The hosts also made 23 of 35 (65.7%) free throws and committed just nine turnovers. The Cougars, meanwhile, connected on 42.5% (34 of 80) of their overall shots from the field, 29.7% (11 of 37) of their three-pointers, and 70.4% (19 of 27) of their attempts from the charity stripe.

 

Renner paced five Pioneers in double figures with a season-high 28 points (9-20 FG, 2-5 3PT FG, 8-9 FT) and 16 rebounds.  Weaver followed with 18 points, eight of which came in the critical overtime period.  Senior center Shane Humphrey (Loudonville H.S.) finished with 16 points and 11 boards for his third double-double of the year.  Ferwerda also notched 16 points to go with a team-high three assists while Carver posted 12 points and six boards.

 

Falkenberg poured in 41 points (14-29 FG, 7-17 3PT FG, 6-7 FT) to lead the way for Mt. Vernon Nazarene.  Forward Jadin Thomas followed with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks with guard Dan Borcherdt contributing 15 points.

 

Malone vs. Cedarville: Tuesday’s contest will mark the 88th meeting between the two schools.  Malone holds a 52-35 advantage in the all-time series although the Yellow Jackets have won nine out of the last ten meetings, including a thrilling 82-80 triumph at Osborne Hall earlier this season (November 20).  Three of the last four match-ups in the series have been decided by three points or less.

 

Pioneer Notes: Tyler Renner leads the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game followed by Ben Carver at 16.0 and Shane Humphrey at 11.2…Renner also paces the squad in rebounding with 8.3 boards per game followed by Humphrey at 6.0 and Carver at 5.1…Carver is averaging a team-high 3.0 assists per outing…With 16 points on Saturday, Jarrod Ferwerda eclipsed 500 career points as a Pioneer (he now stands at 509)…Renner needs 39 more points to move into the Top 10 on Malone’s all-time scoring list (he currently ranks 11th with 1741 career points).