ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's basketball team defeated Capital 82-70 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Saturday evening in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.

The Raiders advanced to 9-6 overall and 5-3 in the OAC behind Nathan Bower-Malone's (Stow) 23 points and six assists. D'Vontay Friga (Cuyahoga Falls) also poured in 15 points off the bench while Diallo Niamke (Sagamore Hills/Nordonia) matched Friga and JJ Kukura (Alliance) scored 13 points on the night.

Capital (7-8, 3-5) was led by Austin Schreck and Will Hannah who had 15 and 11 points, respectively.  

Capital jumped out of the gate with a nine point advantage at 13-4 at the 15-minute mark. The Raiders then went on a 17-6 run and captured their first lead of the game at 21-19 on a John Carroll (Massillon/Tuslaw) dunk with 8:52 remaining in the half.

Capital regained the lead at 30-27 with an 11-6 run over the next six minutes. Mount Union finished the half on an 8-3 run with Bower-Malone scoring all eight to send the teams to the locker room at 35-33.

The Purple Raiders opened the second half on a 7-2 run to push their lead out to seven with 17:46 to play. Mount opened their largest lead of the game at 11 on a Friga three-point make and kept pushing that lead to 14 at 59-45 with a Tre'Maine Gray (Akron/Firestone) old-fashioned three-point play with 11:50 to play.

Capital cut the lead to eight at 68-60 with six minutes remaining but four quick points pushed the Raider lead back to 12 at 72-60. The teams continued to trade baskets until Bower-Malone hit the dagger three-point basket with 1:25 remaining to put the score 80-67.

The Raiders will go on the road Wednesday, January 17th at 7 p.m. to take on Muskingum in another OAC battle.