PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The No. 5 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team beat Gwynedd Mercy 89-82 in overtime on Friday evening.
The Purple Raiders (1-0) had four players score in double figures, with senior
Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) leading the way with a game-high 23 points. Senior
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) added a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double, with freshman
Jahlil Graham (Canton / McKinley) adding 15 points and sophomore
Corey Hudson (Columbus / Pickerington) scoring 11 to round out the Raiders in double figures.
The Griffins (1-1) were led by Aziz Parker, who scored a team-high 16 points. Dom Thomas added 14 points and JoHaan Vinson scored 13 points.
The Raiders jumped out to a quick 8-2, before the Griffins would go on a massive 20-1 run over the next 4:05 to take a 22-9 lead with 10:57 to play in the first half. A little over two minutes later a layup by sophomore
Caleb Laurich (Akron / Copley) sparked a quick 10-4 run for Mount Union to cut the lead to eight with five and a half minutes remaining in the first half. Both teams would trade baskets over the remainder of the half as Gwynedd Mercy would take a 41-30 lead into the break.
Mount Union would open the second half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to four early in the second half. However, the Griffins would answer with an 11-2 run of their own over the next 5:12 to push the lead back out to 58-41 with 11:21 to play in the game. A little over two minutes later the Raiders would answer with an 8-2 run to cut the lead back to 11 with a little over six minutes remaining. Mount Union would then go on a 20-6 run over the final 3:40 of game time to tie the game at 78 and force overtime.
Both teams would trade baskets over the first three and a half minutes of overtime before a layup by Parker and a three-pointer by Gurley gave the Raiders a six-point lead with 32 second left in the overtime period and Mount Union would go on to win 89-82.
The Raiders are back in action again tomorrow for the second day of the Chatham Tip-Off Classic when they take on host Chatham at 2 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa.