Box Score

The Malone University men's basketball team picked up an 89-73 road victory on Saturday afternoon in its match-up with NCAA Division II Urbana University.  The Pioneers held a 36-33 advantage at halftime and then out-scored the host Blue Knights 53-40 over the final 20 minutes.  Malone improved to 10-12 overall with the win while Urbana slipped to 5-14.   

The Pioneers jumped out to a 27-14 lead just over 10 minutes into Saturday's contest.  The Blue Knights fought back with a 19-9 surge over the remainder of the first half and then knotted the score at 38-38 and 40-40 in the early stages of the second stanza.  However, Urbana was unable to pull ahead before Malone took control of the contest with an 11-1 scoring run.

After being limited to 34.4% (11 of 32) shooting in the opening period, the Pioneer offense found its rhythm following intermission as the visitors knocked down 18 of their 33 (54.5%) second-half shot attempts to conclude the afternoon with an overall shooting percentage of 44.6% (29 of 65).  Malone hit five of its 17 (29.4%) three-point attempts in the contest and 26 of its 31 (83.9%) free throws. 

Overall, Urbana connected on 41.3% (26 of 63) of its shots from the field, four of its 15 (26.7%) three-pointers and just 17 of its 31 (54.8%) foul shots.  In addition to its shooting advantage, Malone also enjoyed a 45-41 edge in total rebounds and out-scored the Blue Knights by a 27-8 margin in bench points.

Guard Eric Coblentz led the way for the Pioneers by racking up a total of 27 points for the second straight game.  Following a 27-point showing in Thursday's home win over Central State University, Coblentz matched that offensive output in Saturday's victory .  The senior from Hartville, Ohio sank all 10 of his free throws and seven of 14 shots from the floor, including three of six attempts from beyond the arc. 

Forward Cory Veldhuizen came off the bench to notch his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds.  Guard Isiah Elliott added 17 points, eight assists and three steals.  Forward Che Richardson also made substantial contributions with 12 points, 10 boards and three blocked shots.

Forward Dyrell Dolson paced Urbana with 23 points.  Forward Sharif Muhammad Jr. added 11 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists for the Blue Knights.

The Pioneers will be back in action on Saturday when they begin a stretch of three straight home games with a 4:00 p.m. match-up against Notre Dame (OH) College (6-14 overall prior to Monday's contest against OSU-Lima).  In the January 21st meeting between the two squads earlier this season, NDC pulled out an 85-84 overtime victory on its home court.  Live streaming video and statistics from the re-match will be provided free of charge for those fans who cannot be in attendance on Saturday.  Click here for the links to each.

Malone Notes: Saturday's  16-point triumph at Urbana marked Malone's second victory over the Blue Knights this season (the Pioneers posted an 83-74 win in the previous meeting, held at Osborne Hall on January 14th)…Following the pair of 2011-12 victories over Urbana, Malone now holds a 57-21 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools…The 57 wins vs. Urbana mark the highest number of victories against any opponent in program history…Coblentz has now scored 20 or more points seven times this season and has posted back-to-back 20-point games four times in his Pioneer career…Following Saturday's victory, Coblentz now ranks 27th on Malone's all-time scoring list with 1273 career points, needing 35 more to move into the Top 25.