The visiting Pioneers (9-19, 5-7 AMC) got off to a good start as Malone built a 10-3 lead over the first five and a half minutes as Jeremy Duerr hit a pair of three-pointers and Taurean Dailey and Jarrod Ferwerda made a basket each.

Then, MVNU (21-7, 9-3 AMC) began to click on offense as the Cougars rattled off 13 straight points to go in front 16-10 with 11:17 left in the half. Senior forward Jadin Thomas (left) led the surge with five points, while senior guard Dan Borcherdt and senior wing Andy Francis both nailed a three-pointer.

A trey each by Mike Kaisk, Brian Guerin, and Jordan Jennings helped Malone close the gap to 20-19 at the 8:52 mark, but MVNU was able to maintain the lead by trading baskets over the next six and a half minutes.

Holding a slim 32-30 advantage with 2:32 remaining before the break, the Cougars scored the final 12 points of the half to take a 44-30 lead as the teams went to the locker rooms. A three-point play by freshman guard Robbie Taylor, back-to-back treys from Borcherdt, and a three-pointer just ahead of the halftime buzzer by senior guard Ben Falkenberg gave MVNU a cushion that it would later need.

Borcherdt was on fire in the first half for the Cougars as he went 4-for-6 from three-point range for 12 points to go with four assists. Thomas added eight points, while Falkenberg and sophomore guard Brandon Short tossed in seven points apiece with Short registering three steals. MVNU shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-for-31), 43.8 percent from three-point range (7-for-16), and 77.8 percent from the free throw line (7-for-9).

Ferwerda led the Pioneers with seven points in the first half, while Duerr added six points and four assists. Dailey also grabbed seven rebounds as Malone held a commanding 25-10 rebounding advantage at the break. The Pioneers shot 41.4 percent from the field (12-for-29), 42.9 percent from three-point range (6-for-14), and did not attempt a free throw. Malone also committed 12 turnovers in the first half compared to none for the Cougars.

MVNU’s lead grew to as much as 47-32 a minute and a half into the second half when Falkenberg nailed a three-pointer. The Cougars still led 51-37 at the 15:21 mark following a layup by senior forward Matt McKinley.

At that point, the Pioneers used a 10-0 run to close the gap to 51-47 with 10:34 to play. Jock Rottman fueled the comeback with five points.

A pair of free throws by junior wing Travis Brown, a layup by Short, and a three-pointer by Taylor extended MVNU’s lead back out to 58-47 with 8:12 left as it looked like the Cougars would weather the storm.

However, with MVNU holding a 61-53 advantage with 3:32 to play, Malone got a layup by Rottman and a three-pointer by Ferwerda to pull within 61-58 with 3:06 still on the clock.

Borcherdt (right) made a pair of free throws with 2:05 remaining, but Ferwerda answered with two free throws of his own with 1:50 to play as the score stood at 63-60 in favor of the Cougars.

After a missed three-pointer by MVNU with the shot clock winding down, Ferwerda grabbed the rebound and then hit a jumper with 56.1 seconds left to close the gap to 63-62.

Another miss by the Cougars with 35.2 seconds left gave Malone the ball with a chance to win the game. The Pioneers ran the shot clock all the way down and then Ferwerda leaned in for a jumper from the right elbow that glanced just slightly off the front of the rim and straight down to Dailey with a couple of ticks still on the clock. Dailey laid the ball back up on the rim only to see it roll off into the hands of Thomas as time expired to give MVNU the one-point victory and send the relieved Cougar Crazies storming on to the court.

“After the last game, I thought we would have this kind of game behind us,” said MVNU coach Scott Flemming, referring to Saturday’s 51-49 win over Houghton (N.Y.) College. “We struggled again especially in the second half. In the first half, I thought for the most part we were efficient offensively. Things really dried up in the second half. I’m not sure where our perimeter shooting has gone in these last two games. We have too good of shooters for this to last.”

“All I can say is that good teams find a way to win and that has been the case these last two games,” Flemming continued. “I’m glad for our seniors that we were able to pull it out. We again had good bench play tonight. We kept our winning streak going and now we need to finish strong on Saturday.”

Borcherdt finished with 14 points and six assists to lead the Cougars as his four three-pointers moved him into tenth place in school history with 237 career treys. Thomas added 12 points and six rebounds, while Falkenberg contributed 10 points and topped the 2,500-point mark in career scoring. Short tallied nine points and four steals, and junior post Bryce Sanborn contributed five points and six rebounds. MVNU shot just 36.4 percent from the field (20-for-55) including a 5-for-24 showing (20.8 percent) in the second half. The Cougars also shot 32.1 percent from three-point range (9-for-28) and 73.7 percent from the free throw line (14-for-19).

Ferwerda finished with 14 points and six rebounds to lead Malone, while Kaisk added 13 points. Dailey grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with six points, and Duerr tallied six points and seven assists. The Pioneers shot 38.9 percent from the field (21-for-54), 43.5 percent from three-point range (10-for-23), and 90.9 percent from the free throw line (10-for-11). Malone had a commanding 47-25 advantage in rebounds, but committed 20 turnovers to just seven miscues for MVNU.

The Cougars will close out the regular season on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. when MVNU travels to Point Park (Pa.) University for another AMC game. The Cougars have already clinched a first round home game in the upcoming six-team AMC Tournament, but MVNU could still earn a first-round bye with a victory at Point Park and a loss by the University of Northwestern Ohio to Walsh University. The AMC Tournament champion will receive an automatic berth into the NAIA Division II national tournament on March 11-17 in Branson, Mo.