ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 12 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Heidelberg University 84-79 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.
The Purple Raiders (13-2, 6-2 OAC) had four players score in double figures with senior
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with a game-high 25 points. Seniors
Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) and
Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) added in 14 and 13 points respectively, with junior
Marcus Steele (Solon) rounding out the Raiders in double digits wiht 12 points. Sophomore
Caleb Laurich (Akron / Copley) led the team in rebounds with 11.
The Student Princes (10-5, 6-2 OAC) were led by Isaiah Young who scored 17 points and Eric Panning added in 16 points and had 13 rebounds.
Mount Union and Heidelberg battled back and forth until Mount Union was able to go on a 9-0 scoring run, within the first 8 minutes, to take a 13-5 lead. Heidelberg was quick to answer Mount Union by responding with a 7-2 scoring run to close the gap to 17-16. Both teams continued to put some points on the board and getting the score to a tied 30-30 with five minutes left in the half. Mount Union put up a fight, going on a 14-9 scoring run to close the half and go into halftime with the lead 44-39.
The Raiders would open the second half going on a 10-3 run to extend their lead 52-42 with 16 minutes left in the second half. Heidelberg continued to put up a fight going on a 13-2 scoring run, to take their first lead in the second half 55-54 with 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Raiders and Heidelberg both exchanged points, until the Raiders were able to break the 62-62 tie by going on a 10-6 scoring run making the score 72-68, with Heidelberg still putting up a fight to stay in the game with 6 minutes left. Heidelberg refused to give up going on a 6-4 scoring run to tie the game 74-74 with 4 minutes remaining. The Raiders were able to finish strong, breaking the tie and ending the game on an 10-5 scoring run, take the game 84-79.
The Raiders are back home for another OAC matchup with Marietta on Wednesday, January 17 at 7 p.m.