Canton Reporter

It was quick turnaround for the Malone University men's basketball team looking to shake off the recent Mayors' Cup loss. 

Saturday afternoon the Pioneers traveled to Lake Erie College, also looking for a little revenge over the Storm. 

Earlier in the season Lake Erie came away with a 57-55 win inside Osborne Hall. 

This time around Malone needed overtime, but was able to earn an 86-80 win over the Storm.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Final Score: Malone University Pioneers 86 - Lake Erie College Storm 80
• Records: Malone (11-4, 6-3 G-MAC) | Lake Erie (8-8, 5-5 G-MAC)
• Location: Painesville, Ohio | Athletics and Wellness Center

THE GAME

Powered by a 53.3% field goal percentage, the Pioneers stretched out a double-digit lead in the first half. 

Malone got a huge run late in the half which allowed them to carry a 38-27 lead to the halftime break. 

Lake Erie's Jonny Manning brought the Storm to within one point of the Pioneers with a layup at the 5:21 mark. Malone closed that final 5:21 on a 15-5 run. 

The run started with ten straight MU points, including a pair of three-pointers from Justin Miller. It ended with a bucket by Caleb Conard. 

The Storm scored the final two points of the half, but still found themselves staring at an eleven point deficit at halftime. 

Unfortunately for Malone, it was Lake Erie who shot better than 50% from the field in the second half to close the gap. 

The Pioneers led 63-52 with just 7:29 left to play in the game, but the Storm limited Malone to just six more points over those final seven minutes. 

On the other end of the floor Lake Erie scored 17 points to tie the game at 69-69. 

The Pioneers had a look at a game-winning bucket near the end of regulation, but a miss sent the game into overtime. 

Levi Seiler opened up the extra period with a triple, and Malone never trailed. 

Justin Miller's fourth three-pointer of the afternoon put the Pioneers ahead 79-74 with just 1:39 left to play. 

Malone then closed the game by making 7 of their final 8 free throw attempts to close out the 86-80 win. 

DETAILS

• Justin Miller poured in a game-high 27 points. He was 9-18 from the field, including 4-9 from three-point range. Miller was also a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line.
• Simon Blair had 18 points on an efficient 8-11 performance from the field. 
• Levi Seiler (14), Elijah Hinton (13), and Bo Myers (11) rounded out the double-digit scorers for Malone

WHAT'S NEXT

Malone travels to Tiffin University on Thursday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Original source can be found here