The game went back and fourth over the first five minutes with four ties and five lead changes in the early going with the score knotted at 11-11. Then, a 10-2 run by the host Pioneers (21-9), who earned the top seed in the tournament as the AMC North Division champion, gave Malone a 21-13 advantage at the 12:45 mark. Andrew Weaver and Tyler Renner both scored five points apiece to fuel the surge.

Fourth-seeded MVNU (23-7), which was ranked No. 22 in the final NAIA Division II poll, responded with a 28-11 run of its own as the Cougars moved in front 41-32 with 3:08 left in the half. Falkenberg (left), junior forward Jadin Thomas, and sophomore post Bryce Sanborn each contributed six points, while junior guard Dan Borcherdt added five points.

A 9-2 run by the Pioneers closed the gap to 43-41 with 1:44 remaining in the half, but a three-pointer by Falkenberg and a layup by senior post Connor Gregg helped to give MVNU a 48-44 lead at the half.

Falkenberg led the Cougars with 15 first-half points, while Thomas added 12 points and five rebounds. MVNU shot 42.9 percent from the field (15-for-35), 38.9 percent from three-point range (7-for-18), and 68.8 percent at the free throw line (11-for-16). The Cougars also had a 24-21 edge in rebounds.

Renner paced Malone with 12 points and six rebounds, while Jarrod Ferwerda and Weaver added nine and eight points respectively. The Pioneers shot 50.0 percent from the field (17-for-34), 45.5 percent from three-point range (5-for-11), and 55.6 percent from the free throw line (5-for-9).

A basket each by Renner and Shane Humphrey pulled Malone even at 48-48 to start the second half. Then, MVNU used a 9-2 run to push the Cougars’ lead back to 57-50 at the 17:29 mark as Borcherdt (right) led the way with five quick points.

After the Pioneers battled back to knot the score at 57-57, Falkenberg led a 15-5 run for MVNU by scoring 12 points as the Cougars built a 72-62 advantage at the 11:09 mark.

With MVNU leading 74-64, Malone began to whittle away at the lead as the Pioneers out-scored the Cougars 11-1 over the next four minutes to pull back even at 75-75 with 6:07 still on the clock. Renner scored five points to lead the comeback.

MVNU led by as much as four points on three occasions the rest of regulation including 83-79 with 3:11 to go. Then, Renner made a basket with 2:49 left and Ben Carver added a layup with 1:42 remaining to tie things up at 83-83.

The Cougars missed their final four shots in regulation and Malone came up short on two field goal attempts including a short jumper in the lane by Renner just ahead of the buzzer as the game moved into a five-minute overtime period knotted at 83-83.

A three-point play by Borcherdt gave MVNU an 86-83 lead to start the extra session, but the Pioneers used a 16-6 run to build a commanding 99-92 advantage with 24 seconds to go. Weaver led the way with eight points, while Humphrey added four points and Renner nailed a trey.

A three-pointer and a three-point play by Falkenberg sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Jarrod Ferwerda pulled the Cougars within 101-98 with 12.9 seconds to go.

Weaver was fouled on the in-bounds and missed both free throw attempts to give MVNU one final chance to knot the score and send the game into a second overtime period. With time winding down, Falkenberg’s three-point attempt hit off the rim. Junior forward Matt McKinley grabbed the long rebound and quickly launched a three-pointer of his own that was just off the mark as the buzzer sounded.

Falkenberg finished with 41 points after scoring 30 points in the first round of the AMC Tournament against Notre Dame College. He went 14-for-29 from the field to set a new school record for field goal attempts and his 7-for-17 performance from three-point range tied the school mark for most attempts in a game. He was just two points shy of his career high of 43 points scored last year against Wilberforce University, and he was just six points shy of the school-record 47 points scored by Don Eads in 1969 against Spring Arbor (Mich.) University.

Thomas (left) added 16 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots for the Cougars, while Borcherdt finished with 15 points and a career-high six rebounds. Gregg contributed seven points and nine rebounds, and junior wing Andy Francis also had seven points and six rebounds. Sanborn and freshman guard Brandon Short both finished with six points apiece with Sanborn grabbing five rebounds and Short handing out a team-high four assists.

MVNU shot 42.5 percent from the field (34-for-80), 29.7 percent from three-point range (11-for-37), and 70.4 percent at the free throw line (19-for-27). The Cougars held a slim 52-48 rebounding advantage, and they committed just 10 turnovers.

Malone had five players in double figures led by Renner with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Weaver finished with 18 points, while Humphrey and Ferwerda added 16 points apiece with Humphrey grabbing 11 rebounds. Carver also tossed in 12 points to go with six rebounds. The Pioneers shot 47.3 percent from the field (35-for-74), 47.1 percent from three-point range (8-for-17), and 65.7 percent from the free throw line (23-for-35).

“We really had our sights set on winning this tournament,” said MVNU head coach Scott Flemming. “We had our chances in this game and just could not finish it out. Every time we made a big play, they would counter it. We defended much better in the second half, but we did not take care of the defensive boards. We no longer control our own destiny, and we have to wait and see what happens from here.

The Cougars are still barely alive in the bid to claim one of the nine at-large berths into the NAIA Division II National Tournament. There are still nine conference tournament championship games to be played on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday and five of them impact MVNU’s slim chances to get one of the two remaining berths. The Cougars need at least four of the following five teams to win their championship games: Jamestown (N.D.) College, Evangel (Mo.) University, William Penn (Iowa) University, Cedarville University, and Northwestern (Iowa) University.