ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's basketball team, ranked No. 17 in the nation, defeated Muskingum in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup 72-61 on Wednesday night.

The Purple Raiders (12-2, 6-2 OAC) had two players score in double figures, with sophomore Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with 22 points. Junior Chris Painter Jr. (Akron / St. Vincent-St. Mary) scored a career-high 21 points to round out the Raiders double digit scorers.

The Fighting Muskies (4-12, 1-8 OAC) were led by Carson Carter who scored a team high 16 points and MJ Smith who added 13.

Mount Union jumped out to an early 10-4 lead with 14:55 left in the first half. Muskingum was able to cut the lead down to four with 13:49 remaining in the half before a layup by senior Ethan Stanislawski (Massillon / Jackson) sparked a 22-9 run over the next 8:39 to give the Raiders a 34-17 lead with just four minutes remaining in the half. The Muskies were able to outscore the Raiders 8-5 over the final four minutes of the half, giving the Raiders a 39-25 lead heading into the break.

Muskingum opened the second half on a quick 8-2 run to cut the Raiders lead down to eight. Back-to-back threes by Painter sparked a 14-7 run for Mount Union to stretch the lead back up to 15 with 12:03 to go in the game. The Muskies were able to cut the lead down to 10 with 6:26 remaining but that is the closest that they would get as the Raiders would go on to take the 72-61 victory.

The Raiders were able to force Muskingum into 18 turnovers, with 12 of them being steals.

Mount Union hits the road next as they travel to Tiffin on Saturday, January 22 at 4 p.m., to take on No. 21 Heidelberg in a big OAC matchup.