ALLIANCE, Ohio - The Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Ohio Northern 77-70 in Ohio Athletic Conference action on Saturday in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.

The Purple Raiders (3-2, 2-0 OAC) had three players score in double figures in the game. Cody Dillon (Newton Falls/Newton Falls) led the scoring with 14 points.

Jarrett Ruffin (Northfield/Nordonia) and Stevie Griffin (Canton/Masssillon Jackson) were also in double figures, Ruffin with 13 points and Griffin with 12 points.

The Polar Bears (5-1, 1-1 OAC) were led by Lucas Pennington with 17 points and Konner Baker chipped in with a dozen points off the bench.

In the first half, Mount Union never led and was down by as many as nine points, 26-17 with 8:51 left in the half. A 17-10 Raider run cut the lead to two with 16 seconds left in the half. In the final seconds, Ruffin pulled down a defensive rebound and lauched a full court shot that glanced off the backboard and was tipped in by JJ Kukura (Alliance/Alliance). The two teams entered to lockerrrom even at 36-36.

To start the second half Mount Union and Ohio Northern were even and the game was tied 52-52 with just under 10 minutes to play. The game changed when Mount Union went on a 16-6 run to build a 10 point lead, 68-58 with 3:16 left in the game. Dillon was held to two points in the first half but connected on a trio of three-pointers during the game changing run.

The Polar Bears responded with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the lead back down to two, 68-66. After a Mike Fuline timeout, Griffin buried a three-pointer and Josh Duerr (Uniontown/Lake) hit a pair of free throws to increase the lead back to seven, 73-66 with under a minute remaining. The Raiders went 4-for-4 from the line from that point on to close out the win.

The men's basketball team is back on the road Saturday, December 13 as they travel to Westerville, Ohio to play Otterbein at 7:30pm.