Photo by: Jeff Barnes Photography

The Lake Erie College Storm men's basketball team fell to the Malone Pioneers, 82-80 in overtime on Dec. 4 in Painesville, Ohio. This loss marks the Storm's third consecutive loss and drops their record to 4-3 on the short season so far.

The Storm held their own against the Pioneers all game, only being down by seven points at the end of the first half due to a complete team effort. In the half, the Storm's Achilles heel was the deep ball, converting just two of their 12 attempts for a shooting percentage of 16.7%. 

In the second half, the Storm would come alive, mounting a comeback and refusing to let Malone pull away. With 46 seconds left, the Pioneers would go up by 6 points but Johnny Manning would continue to roll, scoring three straight baskets to tie the game and send it to overtime.

In overtime, Malone would respond immediately, hitting back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers but the Storm would claw back once again. With 16 seconds left and down by 4, Jackson Burdyshaw would attempt to draw a foul from beyond the arc, heaving up a shot and draining the three despite not getting the foul call. Malone would be fouled right after, sinking both of their free throws putting them up by two, and leaving the Storm's only hope down to a hail mary shot by Jordan Burton which didn't fall, finishing the contest with a final score of 82-80.

On the day, Lake Erie dominated in the paint, scoring 56 of their 80 points from the area and outrebounding the Pioneers 44-36. Although they would make 46.2% of their shots from the field, they would struggle mightily from deep, only completing 20% of the shots.

Burton would lead the team with 19 points while Jonny Manning (12), PJ Jones (10), and Kevin Peterson (10) would contribute with double digits themselves.

Lake Erie will be back in action on Dec. 8 at 5:30 PM at home against Tiffin for their third consecutive conference game.