ALLIANCE, Ohio—The Mount Union men's basketball team lost 86-72 to Hiram in the debut of first-year head coach Mike Fuline on Tuesday night at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.

The Purple Raiders scored on their first four possessions to open an early 8-0 lead. Hiram outscored the Raiders 42-18 to finish the half, including a 16-1 run, for a 42-26 lead going into the locker room.

Despite trailing by as many as 25 points in the second half, the Raiders continued to battle. A three-point field goal by sophomore T.J. Gillespie (Toledo/St. John's) with 4:15 remaining cut the lead to 11, but that is as close as it would get.

Mount Union was led by the strong play of their seniors. Jimmy Wood (Wintersville/Indian Creek) scored the game's opening six points and finished with 29 points and six rebounds. Matt Wier (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) added 19 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds.

Hiram was led by sophomore Aaron Stefanov. The sharpshooting Stefanov made five three-point field goals and scored 21 of his game-high 29 points in the first half. Senior Jamaal Watkins recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and senior Andrew Wiegand added 18 points.

Mount Union returns to action this weekend with a pair of games at the Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-Off Tournament on the campus of Geneva (Pa.) College. The Purple Raiders open with a 6 p.m. tip-off against Grove City (Pa.) on Friday and will play host Geneva at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

HIRAM 86, MOUNT UNION 72

HIRAM (1-0)
Aaron Stefanov 8-14 8-8 29; Andrew Wiegand 7-13 2-2 18; Jamaal Watkins 7-16
1-2 16; Branden Means 2-7 5-6 10; Alan Sheppard 4-11 0-0 9; Justin
Wisniewski 0-0 2-2 2; Tom Herchek 1-3 0-0 2; Bob Ritchie 0-0 0-0 0; Chris
Zurowski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 18-20 86.

MOUNT UNION (0-1)
Jimmy Wood 10-16 7-7 29; Matt Wier 7-15 4-7 19; T.J. Gillespie 4-10 1-2 12;
Nate Jacubec 2-11 1-2 5; Stevie Griffin 1-6 0-0 3; Jimmy Darnley 1-2 0-0 2;
Tom Berlekamp 1-4 0-0 2; Justen Little 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Albert 0-2 0-0 0;
Colton Troyer 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Kiger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 13-18 72.

Hiram.........................   42   44  -   86
Mount Union...................   25   47  -   72

3-point goals--Hiram 10-23 (Aaron Stefanov 5-9; Andrew Wiegand 2-4; Alan
Sheppard 1-4; Branden Means 1-3; Jamaal Watkins 1-1; Tom Herchek 0-2), Mount
Union 7-33 (T.J. Gillespie 3-5; Jimmy Wood 2-7; Matt Wier 1-5; Stevie
Griffin 1-5; Jordan Albert 0-1; Tom Berlekamp 0-1; Jimmy Darnley 0-1; Nate
Jacubec 0-8). Fouled out--Hiram-None, Mount Union-None. Rebounds--Hiram 43
(Jamaal Watkins 12), Mount Union 34 (Matt Wier 9). Assists--Hiram 14 (Justin
Wisniewski 6), Mount Union 17 (Nate Jacubec 5). Total fouls--Hiram 18, Mount
Union 18. Technical fouls--Hiram-None, Mount Union-None. A-756