ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's basketball team, ranked No. 15 in the nation, picked up an Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Capital 72-45 on Friday night.

The Purple Raiders (10-1, 5-1 OAC) were led by sophomore Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak), who made his first start of the season and had career-highs with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Seniors Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) and Ethan Stanislawski (Massillon / Jackson) had 11 and 10 respectively while junior Chris Painter Jr. (Akron / St. Vincent-St. Mary) rounded out the Raiders double digit scorers with 10 points.

The Comets (8-4, 3-3 OAC) were led by Alex Eyink who scored a team-high 10 points.

The Raiders jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but the Comets answered cutting the lead to four, 12-8, with 14:25 left in the first half. After a back and forth five minutes, a layup by junior Andrew Keller (Painesville / Riverside) sparked a 20-5 run over the next 5:41 that was capped off by a Parker three-pointer to give the Raiders a 16-point halftime lead, 42-26.

The Raiders opened the second half on a 16-6 run finished off by a Newsom three-pointer to put the game away. The Comets were never able to get closer than 21 for the remainder of the game, giving the Raiders a 27-point victory.

Mount Union shot 43.9-percent from the field, while holding Capital to just 28.6-percent shooting.

The Raiders hit the road next as they travel to No. 8 ranked Marietta for a key OAC matchup Wednesday, January 12 at 7 p.m. in Marietta.