BEREA, Ohio – The No. 4 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team beat Baldwin Wallace 84-81 in overtime in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday night.
The Purple Raiders (11-1, 3-1 OAC) had three players score in double figures, with junior
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with a game-high 30-point, 10-rebound double-double. Seniors
Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) and
Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) added 16 and 13 points respectively to round out the Mount Union double digit scorers.
The Yellow Jackets (5-7, 1-4 OAC) were led by Jackson Simmons who scored a team-high 25 points and Jake Snyder who scored 18.
The Raiders jumped out to an early 8-2 lead just four minutes into the game, the Yellow Jackets would answer however and tie the game at 10 with 13:15 remaining in the first half. Mount Union and Baldwin Wallace would trade baskets over the next 8:09 of game time before the Yellow Jackets would take their first lead of the game 24-22. A Parker three-pointer would tie the game at 27 with 3:53 remaining in the half and spark an 8-2 run to close the half and give the Raiders a 35-29 lead heading into the break.
Baldwin Wallace cut the Mount Union lead down to one just five minutes into the second half. The Yellow jackets would then take a one point 49-48 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game, they would take their largest lead of the game, leading 62-55 with 6:02 left to play. The Raiders would answer with a 16-4 run to take a 71-66 lead with just over a minute remaining in the game, but Baldwin Wallace would close the game on a 5-0 run to send the game to overtime tied at 71.
The Raiders and Yellow Jackets would trade baskets over the first two and a half minutes of overtime, with Baldwin Wallace leading 80-77 with 2:24 remaining in the overtime period.
However, Mount Union would close the game on a 7-1 run to take home an 84-81 victory.
The Raiders are on the road again next when they travel to Columbus on Saturday, January 7 to take on Capital in an OAC matchup at 2 p.m.
