CANTON, OH. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team hit the road on Thursday for their first of three games away from the historic Sportscenter. Wesleyan started the trip with a visit to Northeast Ohio and Malone University. The Pioneers completed a comeback to defeat the Panthers 80-75. 
 
The Panthers ended the first half in a flurry to extend their lead to 41-30. Jorge Sanchez-Ramos scored seven points in the final 1:44 of the half to aid in the early advantage. Malone scored the first basket of the game, but the Panthers held the lead for the remainder for the first half. 
 
The Pioneers outscored the Panthers 19-12 to start the second half. A three-point play by Caleb Mackrey made it a three-possession lead in the Panthers' favor with 10 minutes left in the game, 58-51. Malone would not give-in to the pressure and tied the game at 65 with less than six minutes left in the game. 
 
The defensive effort increased for the Panthers as they ran the Pioneers into turnovers. Wesleyan could not take advantage as they struggled to move ahead as their foul shooting ran cold. Holding 66-65 lead with four minutes left, Nic Williams nailed a three-point basket to give the Malone a two-point lead heading into the final media timeout. 
 
It became a back-and-forth free-throw contest in the final four minutes and neither team could connect from the field before a whistle would stop the action. The next five possessions ended with free throws. It was nearly three minutes of game time when Emmanuel Oladeru made the first field goal in that span to give the Pioneers a 75-69 lead with 90 seconds left. 
 
Malone made more free throws down the stretch to pick-up the victory. The Pioneers were 14 of 16 from the line in the second half while the Panthers were eight of 14. Mackrey finished the game with 18 points. Armandas Plintauskas hit two late threes to finish with 16 points. LaVonte Harris added 14 points while Ke'Andre Jones ended the game with 11 points. 
 
The Panthers will stay in Canton and play Walsh on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2PM CT.
 
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