Late rally falls short as Cedarville drops battle to Malone

By Emily Tuttle

On a blustery Thursday evening, as students headed to their homes for Christmas break, the Cedarville men’s basketball team (4-4) attempted to defend its home court against the Malone Pioneers (7-1) in a matchup where neither team led by more than six points. The Pioneers came up clutch down the stretch with multiple threes, beating the Yellow Jackets 68-67.

In the final seconds, the Jackets rallied to within one after Jaylen Davis rose above his defender for a three-point bucket as the shot clock wound down. On the other side of the floor, Malone was fouled and sent to the line for one-and-one. Though the Pioneers were nearly perfect from the free-throw line the entire game, they missed and gave Cedarville one last opportunity. 

Cedarville got the ball with seven seconds left and no timeouts. Anthony Ruffolo quickly dribbled up the floor and drove to the basket for a layup, missing. Will Gibson grabbed his rebound, attempting to turn garbage into gold, but was blocked by Malone’s 6’5″ forward as the buzzer sounded.

Each season, Malone provides a physical game for the Jackets, and this one was no different. Despite the crowd’s chants, Cedarville struggled defensively in the first half, unsuccessfully attempting to create distance from their opponent. They couldn’t gain traction on either end of the floor, and each time they started to gain momentum, their opponent snuffed it out through shot-making. 

When the men did get a stop, they were unable to grab defensive rebounds and gave the Pioneers a fresh shot clock.

“We’ve got to continue to grow in terms of once we force those misses, being able to rebound the ball,” Jones said.

Malone was resilient. They stayed within striking distance the entire first half, shooting 57% from the field. They drilled a triple at the halftime buzzer, sucking all life out of the home crowd.

But Cedarville came out of the locker room hopeful, bringing a new energy to the court as the student section rose to their feet in anticipation of a second half better than the first.

“We did a good job of continuing the fight, staying in the fight,” said head coach Rob Jones. 

Cedarville improved defensively in the second, getting timely stops down the stretch. They protected the ball, only turning it over six times to their opponent’s 15.

Ruffolo showed resolve and distinct tenacity to win. He seemed to put his team on his back, relentlessly driving to the hoop as defenders crashed around him. He finished the night with 26 and stole the ball three times to create timely momentum. 

Jaylen Davis matched Ruffolo with three steals and added 14 points from all across the floor. 

Unlike their opponent, though, the Jackets struggled from the free-throw line, going 11–20. In the final minutes, key free throws were missed, and they were the moments that separated the loss. 

Still, the team fought, finding different ways to scrape up energy: and ones, steals, off-ball screens. 

While the Jackets rallied, Malone hit some critical threes to silence the crowd in the deciding moments. 

“It would be easy to hang your head and to not be able to respond from that, and I think the guys did a good job of picking themselves up and responding,” Jones said. “Even when, late in the game, we’re down four and kind of having to make something happen.”

Jones was proud of his team for getting opportunities late in the game, even though they did not capitalize on them.

The Yellow Jackets will look to continue their fight in a long season and bounce back against Ohio Dominican on Saturday.

“It’s a resilient group,” Jones said. “There are a ton of things we need to work on and that we need to improve on, but I like our guys, and I know we are going to keep working.”

Emily Tuttle is a junior Journalism major and the sports editor of Cedars. She is passionate about Philly sports, exercise, and all things silly.