ALLIANCE, Ohio—The No. 3 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team fended off a late run by Anderson in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Friday night winning 73-65.
 
The Purple Raiders (26-2) led by as much as 16 early in the second half saw that lead come down to as little as one point but a three from Darrell Newsom Jr. (Twinsburg) with 1:30 left in the game gave Mount Union the momentum and finished off Anderson.
 
Mount Union was led by Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak), who had his third straight and seventh double-double of the season, scoring 22 points and pulling in 16 rebounds.
 
Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) finished the day with 20 points and four steals while Newsome had 18 points.
 
Anderson (18-10) was led by Tate Ivanyo with 14 points while Bryson Huckeby pulled in 12 rebounds with seven points.
 
Anderson got out to a 4-0 lead early on and lead 12-11 after five minutes of play. Mount Union found its legs going on a 12-0 run with four different Raiders scoring to take a 25-15 lead. Anderson responded with a 5-0 run. Mount Union led by just three with three minutes left in the first half but a 12-4 run gave Mount Union a 43-32 halftime lead.
 
The Raiders pushed their lead out to 16 points with 12 minutes left. A 21-6 run for Anderson over a nine minute span saw the lead vanish for Mount Union leading 63-62 with 3:23 remaining. Neither team led by more than three until the Newsome three with 1:30 left as Mount Union took that four point lead and stayed above five the rest of the way.
 
Mount Union now takes on Lancaster Bible who won on a last second three pointer from Jordan Shewbridge to defeat NYU Friday afternoon. The game will be played at 7:40 p.m. in Alliance, Ohio at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.