ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's basketball team, ranked No. 8 in the nation beat Heidelberg in an Ohio Athletic Conference Semifinal matchup 68-65 on Thursday night.

The Purple Raiders (23-3, 14-3 OAC) had three players score in double figures with sophomore Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with a 26-point 13 rebound double-double. Senior Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) and Braedon Poole (McDonald) scored 12 and 10 respectively.

The Student Princes (18-7, 12-5 OAC) were led by Emmanuel Perdue who scored a team high 12 points.

Mount Union and Heidelberg opened the game trading baskets and then with the score tied at 10, a driving layup by junior Chris Painter Jr. (Akron / St. Vincent-St. Mary) sparked a 17-2 run over the next 4:56 to give the Raiders a 27-12 lead with 8:33 remaining in the half. The Student Princes would answer with back-to-back baskets, before Mount Union would end the half on a 12-5 run to take an 18-point, 39-21 lead going into halftime.

Heidelberg went on a 22-8 run over the first 9:13 of the second half to cut the Mount Union lead down to 4 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Raiders would go on to stretch their lead back to seven, before a Treohn Watkins three sparked a 9-2 run to tie the game at 52 with 6:28 left to play. Mount Union and Heidelberg would go back and forth over the next 5:06 before a Parker layup gave the Raiders a 65-63 lead with 1:22 remaining. The Student Princes would tie the game at 65 on their next possession. With 12 seconds left Newsom intercepted a Perdue pass and got fouled. He would split the pair of free throws to give the Raiders a 66-65 lead with nine seconds to play. On the following Heidelberg possession Newsom got another steal and drew a foul with 0.6 seconds remaining, he would knock down both free throws to seal a 68-65 win.

The Raiders will travel to Marietta next for the OAC Championship Game on Saturday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ban Johnson Arena.