PAINESVILLE, Ohio – The Lake Erie College Storm men's basketball played host to the Malone Pioneers on January 14 in the Jerome T. Osborne Center. The Storm would mount a comeback towards the end but fall in overtime, 86-80.

It was a tough day for the Storm, as Malone continued to apply pressure and control the lead throughout most of the contest. The first half ended with Malone holding onto an 11-point lead and they extended it to as much as 14 early in the second half.

Much like they have all year though, the Storm refused to go away as they got hot midway through the second half and found themselves within striking distance as the half progressed.

With 30 seconds left in the game, Lake Erie would force the Pioneers to lose control of the ball and turn the ball over out of bounds. The Storm would then take the ball down the court where Jonny Manning would get fouled and earn a trip to the foul line where he would knock down the first shot thereby giving him the opportunity to shoot a second which he would also make, tying up the game with 20.5 seconds remaining.

Malone would take the ball down the court and force a shot with 6 seconds remaining. The Pioneers would grab the rebound, miss the second chance basket, grab the rebound once again, and with a fraction of a second left, Simon Blair would attempt one final shot which he would make but upon replay from the officials it was determined that Blair did not get the shot off in time, giving the Storm a sigh of relief and send the game into overtime.

Overtime would be controlled by the Pioneers early on however and the Storm found themselves fighting to keep within striking distance the entire time. They would do a good job of keeping them on their toes but Malone would keep the edge all the way until the end of regulation, giving Lake Erie an 86-80 loss and extending their losing skid to three games.

Manning would lead the Storm with 21 points while also grabbing 6 rebounds. Jordan Burton would also impress for Lake Erie as he contributed 20 points of his own on 10-16 shooting from the field. 

The loss takes the Storm's record back to .500 at 8-8 on the year with a 5-5 record in conference play. They will be back in action on Saturday, January 21 on the road against the Cedarville Yellow Jackets at 4:15 PM.