Pioneers Rally To Top Falcons.

The Malone Pioneers came in ranked in the country in NAIA division II. It took a half for the school from Canton to look like it but the Pioneers rallied from a 5 point halftime deficit to knock off the Notre Dame Falcons. It was the Falcons first loss at home in conference play since 2009. The Falcons fell to 7-11 and 2-4 in the AMC. The Pioneers improved to 14-6 (7-1 AMC).

The two teams would trade buckets in the early going. NDC would go in a mini-run to take a 18-12 lead on a Eric Dummermuth jumper. Malone then would go a run of their own to tie the game at 22 with 5:56 in the opening stanza. The Falcons would close the half on a 9-4 run to take a 5 point lead into the locker room. Taylor Reiger nailed a three to make the lead five. The Falcons would get off to a hot start in the second half and stretch the lead to 10 (36-26). The Pioneers would then go on a 20-2 run to take a 46-38 lead with 10:52 to go. The Falcons would answer and after a Eric Dummermuth tip with 6:15 to go the game would be knotted at 51. Che Richardson and Kyle Higgins would knock down a three pointer each to give Malone a 57-51 lead. The Falcons would then score the game's next four points to cut the Pioneer lead to 57-55 with 2:25 to go. Next time you looked up it was 64-57 Pioneers with 23 seconds left. The Falcons would make a furious rally late and a Taylor Reiger shot from half court would be off the mark and the Pioneers would hold on for the 65-62 win.

The Pioneers tallied a pair of players in double figures. Jock Rottman led the way with 12 points ,while Cory Veldhulzen netted 11. It was a balanced attack for the Pioneers as all nine players who saw action scored. They shot 38% from the floor in this one. The difference was from the three point line as the Pioneers were 10-23 (44%) including 6-12 in the second half. Malone did struggle at the foul line going just 7-12 (58%). The Pioneers had 12 turnovers.

NDC was led by another monster night from Eric Dummermuth. The Sophomore from Dover,OH scored 32 points and hauled down 15 rebounds. Taylor Reiger was the only other Falcons in double digits with 10 points. Reiger was only 4-11 from the floor. The Falcons shot 43% from the floor but only 36% in the second half. NDC was 3-9 (33%) from three point land. The Falcons shot 75% (9-12) at the charity stripe and won the rebounding battle 42-36. The Falcons hurt themselves with 17 turnovers.

The Falcons will be back in action Friday night. The Raiders of Roberts Wesleyan (7-10) will come to Murphy Gym. Tip time is set for 8 PM.