2007-2008 Season Recap

Men’s Basketball Advances To AMC Tournament Final; Ends Successful Season With 21-10 Record

Six-tenths of a second. It’s an amount of time that expires quicker than you can say the words six-tenths. However, it is all that was remaining on the clock after Cedarville University guard Ryan Short’s jumper trickled through the net to clinch an 84-83 victory in the title game of the American Mideast Conference Tournament and dash the Malone men’s basketball team’s hopes of qualifying for the NAIA Division II National Tournament.
 
Although this heart-breaking, one-point loss to the Yellow Jackets on March 4th brought the Pioneers’ season to a dramatic conclusion, it certainly did nothing to diminish the significant accomplishments that Malone achieved during an impressive 2007-2008 campaign. The Pioneers posted a 20-8 overall record in the regular season, and a 7-3 mark in conference play, to finish in a tie with Notre Dame (Ohio) College for the AMC North Division Title. Malone owned the tiebreaker with the Falcons and therefore advanced to the conference’s North-South Championship contest where it fell on the road to South Division winner Walsh University by a final score of 82-60. Following this tough loss to their local rival, the Pioneers became the #1 seed in the six-team AMC postseason tournament and recorded their first conference tourney win since the 2001-2002 season with a thrilling 101-98 overtime victory at home against Mount Vernon Nazarene University in the semifinal round. Malone then moved on to the exciting tournament championship game (again at home) against Cedarville, where it lost in the final moments by the slimmest of margins.
 
The Pioneers started the year by notching victories in 12 of their first 16 games which included a seven-game winning streak over the final three weeks of December. Malone’s strong play then continued throughout its 10-game AMC North slate as the squad locked up a share of the division crown at home on February 23rd in its regular-season finale with a convincing 83-65 victory over Houghton (NY) College. In addition to this contest and the three rousing postseason games, another highlight of the 2007-2008 season included an 86-83 upset victory on the road January 2nd over then NAIA Division II No. 4 and previously undefeated Embry-Riddle (FL) University. The Pioneers also registered a pair of dominating wins over Christendom (VA) College and The Ohio State University-Marion prior to Christmas break with lopsided final scores of 101-55 and 96-46, respectively.
 
Leading the way for the Pioneers this year was the senior trio of forward Tyler Renner, guard Ben Carver, and center Shane Humphrey. Renner put together another outstanding season as he garnered All-AMC North First Team, NCCAA All-East Region First Team, NCCAA First Team All-America and NAIA All-America Honorable Mention honors after pacing Malone in both points (18.0) and rebounds (8.2) per game for the third straight year.  He finished the season ranked in the Top 10 in multiple AMC statistical categories including points (seventh), overall rebounds (fifth), and field goal percentage (seventh at 52.7%) in addition to leading the conference (ranked eighth nationally in NAIA Division II) with 6.96 defensive rebounds per outing. Renner wrapped up his Pioneer playing career with 1777 points and 848 career rebounds, totals which rank 11th and sixth, respectively, on Malone’s all-time scoring and rebounding lists.
 
Carver also collected All-AMC North, NCCAA All-East Region First Team and NCCAA Second Team All-America accolades following a strong senior season in which he averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and a team-high 3.0 assists per game. Carver’s 86.2 % shooting from the charity stripe ranked third in the conference this season and he surpassed 1000 career points on December 13th in a 76-60 win over Wilberforce University. Carver concluded his four-year Pioneer playing career with 1285 points, the 26th highest career scoring total in the history of Malone men’s basketball.
 
Humphrey, an NCCAA All-East Region First Team and All-AMC North Third Team selection, registered 11.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest this year while shooting a team-high 59.0% from the field. He reached the 1000-point career milestone late in the season and ended his collegiate career ranked 44th on Malone’s all-time scoring list with 1056 points. Humphrey, who was named an NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athlete again this year, also made his mark on the boards throughout his four years in a Pioneer uniform, finishing his career with 596 rebounds which ranks 19th on Malone’s all-time list.
 
Other key contributors this season included junior forward Jarrod Ferwerda, junior guard Andrew Weaver, and junior guard Zach Fanning.  Ferwerda played in all 30 games this year, averaging 8.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest.  Weaver, who earned NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athlete recognition, tossed in 8.2 points per outing and Fanning came off the bench to average 5.0 points per night while hitting a team-high 40.0% of his shots from beyond the three-point arc.

In addition to several of his players earning postseason honors, Smith himself captured two as he was named Coach of the Year for both the AMC North Division and for the NCCAA East Region.
 
Although the Pioneers will lose three talented seniors due to graduation, a skilled group of returnees will be joined by several promising recruits next year as the squad looks to maintain its status as one of the top teams in the AMC.
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