Findlay, Ohio - The University of Findlay men's basketball team dropped a heart breaker on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 10 in Croy Gymnasium, losing at the buzzer to the Malone University Pioneers by a score of 74-72. With that defeat the Oilers fall to 10-12 on the year with a 7-7 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while Malone improves to 12-12 overall and 5-11 in the league.

The Oilers got out to a slow start and trailed 17-11 just seven minutes into action, but over the next two-and-a-half minutes, led mostly by Findlay's second unit, a 12-0 run saw the home team take a 23-17 lead. That lead dwindled down to 33-30 with just over two minutes to play in the half before a quick 9-0 run by Malone saw the visiting team go ahead 39-33. A triple by sophomore Khalil Luster stopped the bleeding, but still sent the Oilers into the half trailing 39-36.

Findlay clawed back into the game and, on the back of an 11-0 run, held a 70-61 lead with just five minutes to play.

That lead was not enough.

Over the final five minutes, Malone outscored the Oilers 13-2 and forced Findlay into three turnovers and grabbed two offensive rebounds, none bigger than one that occurred when the game was on the line.

With the game tied at 72, the Pioneers possessed the ball with just 30 seconds to play. Malone's Caleb Conard took a contested triple try with five seconds on the clock, a shot that hit the front rim and bounded away. Aaron Badibo then went high over the top of Findlay's Joey Edmonds to snag the rebound with 2.5 seconds and, with one dribble, got a layup to fall as the horn sounded. The play was reviewed and confirmed, ending the game.

Despite shooting 26-of-48 (54%) from the floor, the Oilers came up shy thanks in large part to Malone's effort on the glass. The Pioneers out-rebounded Findlay by 13 (36-to-23) including 16 offensive rebounds. Those offensive rebounds turned into 18 critical second chance points.

Another area that hurt the Oilers down the stretch was at the line where, for the game, Findlay made 13-of-20. Six of those misses came in the second half including four in the final 6:30.

Senior Nathan Bruns led the way for Findlay, scoring 28 points, just one point shy of his career-high. He made 10-of-16 from the floor and made 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also had five rebounds, three assists, and a team-high four steals.

Freshman Will Aljancic and sophomore Khalil Luster each scored ten in the game. Aljancic led the way with eight rebounds and also had three assists. Luster had three steals.

Findlay is back in action on Thursday, Feb. 15 when they travel to take on Thomas More in Kentucky. That contest will tip at 7:00 pm.