OWENSBORO, KY - Playing at home for the first time in three weeks, the Kentucky Wesleyan Men's Basketball team showed a lot of heart in the closing minutes against Malone, but ultimately fell to the Pioneers 73-67. KWC shot a solid 50% from the field in the game but only hit two threes and were outscored by 21 points from behind the arc. 

With the win Malone moves to 14-4 (9-2 G-MAC), while the Panthers fall to 10-11 (5-8 G-MAC). 

KWC jumped out to an early lead, with JoMel Boyd and Wyatt Battaile combining to score the game's first 10 points. With 11:10 left in the opening half, Wesleyan extended their lead to 19-6 off a three from Jamil Wilson. After that three Malone began to hit their shots, eventually taking the lead with 3:32 left in the frame. A Jordan Roland layup gave KWC back the lead a few minutes later, but Malone closed strong and led 35-31 at halftime. 

After Malone started the second half strong, Boyd stole a pass and threw down a thunderous dunk to ignite the crowd and get the Panthers back in the game. Battaile hit a jumper a minute later to cut the lead to 47-41 six minutes into the second half. With Malone up 65-49 with 6:36 left to go in the game, the Panthers began to chip away. Antonio Thomas put in a layup to start what would be a 14-5 run for the Panthers, cutting the lead to seven with 57 seconds left. Unfortunately for the Panthers there wasn't enough time left, as Malone hit their free throws and won the game by the six-point margin. 

Jordan Roland led the Panthers with 19 points, followed by Ben Sisson (14) and Wyatt Battaile (10). Sasha Sukhanov tallied eight boards while Antonio Thomas notched seven helpers. 

Wesleyan shot 31-62 (50%) from the field but just 2-13 (15.4%) from three. Malone shot 27-59 (45.8%) and 9-26 (34.6%) from three. 

Kentucky Wesleyan will be back at home on Saturday when they host the Walsh Cavaliers. Tipoff is set for 2:15 p.m.

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