ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 7 ranked Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Penn State Beaver 118-91 in their home opener.

Mount Union (2-1) had six players reach double figures and was led by senior Jarrett Ruffin (Northfield/Nordonia) who collected 26 points and tallied a career best 18 rebounds.

Senior Jake Jacubec (Struthers/Struthers) and senior Cody Dillon (Newton Falls/Newton Falls) posted 18 points each, senior Taylor Moore (North Canton/Hoover) had 13, freshman Andrew Francesconi (Tallmadge/Tallmadge) had 12 and sophomore JJ Kukura (Alliance/Alliance) had 11.

Penn State Beaver (1-2) was led by Lamont Wright who tallied a game high 28 points. Eric Gallupe chipped in with 23 of his own.  

The Purple Raiders and Lions played a close contest throughout the first half with neither team able to pull away. Penn State Beaver took the lead 21-19 at the 12:07 mark after a jumper by Wright and the Lions would not lead again in the game.

Mount Union ended the first half outscoring the Lions 22-10 in the paint as they commanded a 55-48 lead going into the locker room.

The Raiders started the second half on a 12-2 run that ended on a Jacubec three-pointer to put Mount Union up by 19 points with 16:45 left in the game.

Mount Union took control of the game in the second half as they outscored the Lions 63-43 and came within two points of setting the school single game points record as the Raiders defeated the Lions 118-91.

The Raiders are back on the road this weekend with a pair of games at the North Central Tip-Off Tournament in Naperville, Illinois.  Mount Union takes on the host North Central Friday at 7:30 p.m. then comes back Saturday at 2 p.m. to face No. 17 ranked Chicago. 

Newspaper Box Score

PENNSTAT vs Mount Union11/18/15 7:00 pm at Alliance, Ohio - The MAACAt Alliance, Ohio - The MAACMOUNT UNION 118, PENNSTAT 91PENNSTAT (1-2)Lamont Wright 10-24 4-8 28; Eric Gallupe 7-10 2-3 23; Gerald Boykin 6-6 0-012; Christian Perkins 4-10 0-0 9; Marcus Smith 3-10 0-0 7; DJ Austin 2-6 0-06; Ignacio Alleyne 2-3 2-2 6; Wanya Smith-Austin 0-1 0-0 0; Sidney Bates 0-20-0 0. Totals 34-72 8-13 91.MOUNT UNION (2-1)Jarrett Ruffin 10-12 4-9 26; Cody Dillon 5-16 4-4 18; Jake Jacubec 6-9 2-318; Taylor Moore 6-6 1-2 13; Andrew Francesoni 5-8 0-0 12; JJ Kukura 5-150-2 11; Michael Shull 3-5 1-1 9; Miles Griffin 2-6 0-0 5; Rory Juhn 2-2 0-04; Evan Keeslar 1-3 0-1 2; Lucas Supan 0-1 0-0 0; Josh Duerr 0-3 0-0 0.Totals 45-86 12-22 118.PENNSTAT......................   48   43  -   91Mount Union...................   55   63  -  1183-point goals--PENNSTAT 15-30 (Eric Gallupe 7-9; Lamont Wright 4-8; DJAustin 2-2; Christian Perkins 1-5; Marcus Smith 1-6), Mount Union 16-41(Jake Jacubec 4-5; Cody Dillon 4-11; Andrew Francesoni 2-5; Michael Shull2-3; Jarrett Ruffin 2-3; JJ Kukura 1-8; Miles Griffin 1-4; Josh Duerr 0-2).Fouled out--PENNSTAT-None, Mount Union-None. Rebounds--PENNSTAT 35 (EricGallupe 7), Mount Union 57 (Jarrett Ruffin 18). Assists--PENNSTAT 15 (DJAustin 4; Lamont Wright 4), Mount Union 21 (Jake Jacubec 6). Totalfouls--PENNSTAT 17, Mount Union 12. Technical fouls--PENNSTAT-None, MountUnion-None. A-253