Higgins, Pioneers Turn Back Falcons.

Kyle Higgins hit back to back treys in the final minutes of the ball game and the Malone Pioneers turned back the Notre Dame Falcons 56-55 on Tuesday night in Canton. With the win Malone improved to 11-12 overall (7-4 AMC). The Falcons dropped to 17-7 (9-2). Two Malone players tallied double figures on the evening. Eric Coblentz led the way with 16 for the Pioneers, while Higgins chipped in 12 on 4 trey's including the one that turned out to be the game winner. Coblentz added 5 assists. The Pioneers only shot 35% (20 of 58) from the floor. They were 9 of 29 (31%) from three point land. The Pioneers were 7 of 10 at the charity stripe.

The Falcons really struggled shooting the ball. NDC was only 6 of 23 from the field in the first half and shot 33% (16 of 48) from the floor. The Falcons would only go 2 of 10 from long range. The Falcons had three players in double digits. Eric Dummermuth led the way with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the blue and white. Nick McCartney added 14 and Al Miller chipped in 13 for the Falcons. NDC would only get 2 points off their bench in the game (a bucket by Will Townsend).

Malone would get off to a quick start. Higgins would drain a trey to account for the first points of the game 49 seconds in. The Pioneers would open a 10 point lead at 14-4 five minutes later after a layup by Jock Rottman with 13:49 in the half. The Falcons would cut the lead to 6 (17-11) with 10:29 to go on a transition jumper by Townsend. Malone would keep the lead at double digits briefly. NDC would fight back and cut it to 5 (27-22) at the halftime break. Malone would score the first 5 points of the second stanza to stretch the lead back out to ten. After Phil Biggs split a pair of free throws the Falcons were back within 5 (32-27) with 16:50 remaining. Four minutes later after a Jock Rottman foul shot the Pioneers lead was back to ten. The Falcons would then go on a 10-0 run and after a pair of Nick McCartney free throws the game would be knotted at 43 with just under 7 minutes remaining. Eric Cloblentz would hit a bucket for Malone but NDC would answer. Al Miller's three ball would give NDC a 46-45 lead with 5:10 to go. After Nick McCartney split a pair of free throws and Eric Dummermuth hit a basket the Falcons looked to be in control up 49-45 with just over 4 minutes left. Higgins would hit a three for the Pioneers but then Miller would answer with a hoop for the Falcons to stretch the lead back to 3. After a Malone hoop once again made it a 1 point game McCartney would drain a pair of free throws to make it 53-50 NDC with 2:33 to go. With 2:02 remaining Higgins would drain a three for the Pioneers to deadlock the game at 53. Another trifecta by Higgins with 1:21 to go would prove to be the game winner. Al Miller would make a jumper with just over a minute left to cut the Pioneers lead to 1. Notre Dame would have one last chance but a McCartney jumper would be off the mark as time expired. The Falcons will be back in action Saturday as they will travel to Cedarville. Tip time is set for 7:30.