ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 4 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Capital 73-61 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup 73-61 on Friday night.

The Purple Raiders (21-2, 14-2 OAC) had three players score in double figures with senior Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) leading the way with a game-high 15 points. Senior Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) added 12 points and senior Braedon Poole (McDonald) added in 10. Poole also score his 1,000^th career point in the win making him the 36^th Raider all-time to achieve the mark.

The Comets (11-12, 7-9 OAC) were led by Carter Combs who scored a team-high 12 points.

Mount Union jumped out to an early 11-2 lead just under four minutes into the game, Capital would cut it down to four just over a minute later. A pair of free throws from junior Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) and a three from Newsom would spark a massive 31-13 run for the Raiders over the final 12:54 of the first half, giving Mount Union a 42-20 lead heading into the halftime break.

The Raiders and Comets would go back and forth over the first 13 minutes of the second half before Capital went on a 13-2 run over 3:18 of game time to cut the lead down to 11 with just under five minutes to play but that is the closest they would get as the Raiders would go on to win 73-61.

The Raiders are home again next when they host Muskingum on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.