(CANTON, Ohio) – Overtime was a heartbreaker again for Lake Erie as it fell 88-86 to Malone in the penultimate game of the regular season at Osborne Hall Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped the Storm to 14-13 overall and 8-9 in the conference, while the Pioneers locked themselves into a playoff spot and now stand at 16-11 overall and 10-7 in the G-MAC.

The Green and White were impressive despite the loss, especially Harrison Riggs (Toledo, Ohio / St. John's) who scored a career-high and game-best 27 points. It easily cruised by his previous best of 19 points set twice last season. Riggs was an impressive 10-of-16 overall and converted all four 3-point attempts. The junior also dished out five assists and pulled down four rebounds.

Gabe Kynard (Sr., Toledo, Ohio / St. John's) and Kaleb Vaughn (R-Sr., Toledo, Ohio / St. John's) were also solid as both recorded double-doubles, the first time the Storm have had two players achieve the fete this season. Kynard scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, and in doing so surpassed Kayla Gabor for the overall school record in points. Gabor totaled 1,823 during her time at Lake Erie from 2014 to 2018.

Vaughn had a dominant first half to give Lake Erie a narrow 32-30 lead at the break as he scored 12 of his 14 points in the opening frame. He was more dominant on the boards in the second half with nine of his 13 rebounds during that time.

Erron James (Sr., Westerville, Ohio / Westerville Central) also had his best game of the season as he scored 17 points on 7-of-9 from the field. He was 2-for-3 behind the arc.

Malone featured a quintet of players in double figures. Bo Myers led the hosts with 22 points off the bench. Sehill Mouliom added 20 more.

Jaret Majestic was limited to 10 points, but three of them came on a crucial bucket near the end of regulation that allowed the Pioneers to get in position to tie the game. After a missed free throw on the opposite end, Malone was able to tie the game with a Marcus Ernst layup.

Lake Erie had an attempt at the end of regulation, but didn't get a good look and the shot went left of the basket.

In overtime, Malone jumped out to an early lead and went up by as many as nine, but the Storm rallied this time in an attempt for late game heroics.

James hit a critical 3-pointer and converted the and-one opportunity after he was fouled on the play to put the Storm back within three at 87-84 with 49 seconds to play. PJ Jones made a pair of free throws on the next trip to cut the deficit to one, however Mouliom made the front end of a pair of free throws to set the final score as Lake Erie's two attempts to tie in the final seconds were no good.

Despite the loss, a berth in the G-MAC Tournament for a third consecutive year is still very much viable, especially with Ohio Dominican's win against Alderson Broaddus. The Storm will still have a tough task in their regular season finale as they take on No. 22 Walsh a week from today. Tip-off with the Cavaliers is set for 1 p.m. with Senior Day presentations taking place before the game.