January 12, 2008

Daemen (NY) Snaps Malone’s Seven-game Winning Streak With 84-79 Victory

 
The Malone College men’s basketball team opened American Mideast Conference North Division play on Saturday evening with an 84-79 home loss to Daemen (NY) College.  The visiting Wildcats came out firing from behind the three-point arc in the early going, connecting on seven of their first 13 three-point attempts to build a 36-21 lead.  The Pioneers were able to trim Daemen’s advantage to 37-32 at halftime, though, after outscoring the visitors 11-1 over the final five minutes of the opening stanza.  Although Malone kept things close over the remainder of the game, the hosts were never able to take the lead in the second half.  The Pioneers tied the contest at 53-53 with 7:55 remaining, but the Wildcats then immediately went on a 14-2 run over the next three minutes to claim a commanding 67-55 advantage.  Trailing by nine points with 1:31 remaining on the clock, Malone continuously fouled Daemen over the final 91 seconds in an attempt to get back into the game, but the Wildcats were able to hang on for the 84-79 win after sinking nine of their final 14 free throws.
 
The hard-fought defeat halted the Pioneers’ seven-game winning streak and dropped Malone’s overall record to 12-5 (0-1 AMC North) on the year.  Daemen, meanwhile, improved to 9-6 overall (1-0 AMC North) with the victory.
 
The Wildcats connected on 26 of their 53 (49.1%) shot attempts in the game, including 12 of 28 (42.9%) three-pointers.  The Pioneers held a 40-22 advantage in total rebounds and made over 53% (29-54) of their overall shots from the field, but the squad also committed 19 turnovers and struggled from three-point range, converting on just two of 13 (15.4%) tries from beyond the arc.
 
Senior forward Tyler Renner (Garaway H.S.) paced Malone with 20 points (9-12 FG, 0-1 3PT FG, 2-3 FT) and a game-high nine rebounds.  Senior guard Ben Carver (Shelby H.S.) followed with 16 points and six boards while senior center Shane Humphrey (Loudonville H.S.) tallied 15 points and also pulled down six rebounds.  Other important contributors for the Pioneers included junior guard Andrew Weaver (Hiland H.S.), who tossed in eight points and dished out three assists, and junior forward Taurean Dailey (McKinley H.S.), who came off the bench to post six points and six rebounds.
 
This week, Malone (12-5 overall, 0-1 AMC North Division) will continue conference play with a 7:30 p.m. contest at home against Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College (5-11 overall, 0-0 AMC North Division) on Saturday evening.  The 2008 Malone Athletic Hall of Fame inductees will be honored during halftime of the men’s game.  The newest inductees include Dale Baker (’78, wrestling), Mark Bankert (administrator), Heidi (Bennett) Yokom (’96, softball), Jason Carver (’96, men’s basketball), Dan DeGeorge (’97, football), and Rob Roberts (’96, baseball).
 
This week’s opponent: Roberts Wesleyan- Malone holds a 10-7 lead in the all-time series with the Raiders, although Roberts Wesleyan won the most recent meeting between the two schools 74-70 (at Roberts Wesleyan) on November 19, 2005.  Malone had won two straight games over the Raiders prior to the four-point defeat in 2005.
 
Pioneer notes: Tyler Renner paces the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game followed by Ben Carver at 16.4 and Shane Humphrey at 10.7…Renner also leads the squad in rebounding with 8.1 boards per contest followed by Taurean Dailey with 6.8 and Humphrey with 6.1…Carver is averaging a team-high 2.7 assists per outing…With nine rebounds in Saturday’s contest, Renner moved into the Top 10 on Malone’s all-time rebounding list and currently ranks 10th with 739 career boards.
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