ADA, Ohio—Branden Rushton sank a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining in a tied game as the Mount Union men's basketball team fell to host No. 6 seed Ohio Northern in Monday night's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament first round matchup, 56-52.

The Raiders got off to a quick start, as Nate Jacubec (Struthers/Struthers) scored five points and three other Raiders each contributed a bucket to take an 11-0 lead. Dominique Royal converted a three-point play to put the Polar Bears on the scoreboard, starting an 11-0 run of their own. The Raiders regrouped and took a 30-27 lead at halftime.

Ohio Northern scored the first five points of the second half to take a 32-30 lead, but T.J. Gillespie (Toledo/St. John's) answered with a three-pointer to regain the lead. Neither team was able to take control the rest of the way as a driving layup by Jacubec tied the game with 21.7 to play. With time winding down, Rushton was able to get to the basket and draw a foul, resulting in two free throws. The Raiders turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass and Ohio Northern added a layup for the final score.

Jacubec led the Raiders with 12 points, followed by 10 points from Gillespie. Freshman Clayton Patton (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) provided a spark off the bench with seven points in the first half. Junior Matt Piloto (Rotonda West, Fla./Lemon Bay) was a factor on the interior, grabbing seven rebounds to tie a career-high while holding 6-9 Scott Schnelle scoreless.

Ohio Northern (13-13) got 16 points from Royal to go along with 15 points from Rushton. Jared Horstman contributed 13 points and six rebounds in reserve duty.

Mount Union finished 11-15 in head coach Mike Fuline's first season, which is a one-game improvement from a year ago.

Newspaper Box Score

Mount Union vs Ohio Northern
02/20/12 7:30 pm at ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
At ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio

OHIO NORTHERN 56, MOUNT UNION 52

MOUNT UNION (11-15)
Nate Jacubec 4-7 2-2 12; Clayton Patton 3-5 2-2 10; Jimmy Wood 2-8 3-4 7;
Matt Piloto 3-4 0-0 6; Matt Wier 3-4 0-0 6; T.J. Gillespie 2-6 0-0 5; Stevie
Griffin 1-4 0-0 2; Jimmy Darnley 1-1 0-0 2; Keith Williams 1-2 0-0 2; Cy
Guertal 0-0 0-0 0; Justen Little 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-45 7-8 52.

OHIO NORTHERN (13-13)
Dominique Royal 7-14 1-2 16; Branden Rushton 5-13 5-6 15; Jared Horstman 5-9
3-3 13; Tony Meyer 2-4 0-0 6; Lucas Pennington 0-0 4-4 4; Jordan Martin 1-2
0-0 2; Scott Schnelle 0-2 0-0 0; Adam Bair 0-2 0-0 0; Taylor Kuhlman 0-1 0-0
0; Isaiah Roux 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 13-15 56.

Mount Union...................   30   22  -   52
Ohio Northern.................   27   29  -   56

3-point goals--Mount Union 5-12 (Nate Jacubec 2-2; Clayton Patton 2-3; T.J.
Gillespie 1-1; Stevie Griffin 0-2; Justen Little 0-1; Jimmy Wood 0-3), Ohio
Northern 3-10 (Tony Meyer 2-3; Dominique Royal 1-3; Jared Horstman 0-1;
Taylor Kuhlman 0-1; Branden Rushton 0-2). Fouled out--Mount Union-None, Ohio
Northern-None. Rebounds--Mount Union 30 (Matt Piloto 7; T.J. Gillespie 7),
Ohio Northern 21 (Jared Horstman 6). Assists--Mount Union 8 (T.J. Gillespie
3), Ohio Northern 8 (Jared Horstman 2; Branden Rushton 2; Tony Meyer 2).
Total fouls--Mount Union 13, Ohio Northern 11. Technical fouls--Mount
Union-None, Ohio Northern-None. A-523
First Round game of 2012 OAC Men's Basketball Tournament.
ONU is the #6 seed. MtU is the #7 seed.
Ohio Northern advanced to Quarterfinals, will play at #3 seed Marietta Tuesday at 7:30 pm.