ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 18 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team beat Ohio Northern in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup 96-78 on Saturday afternoon.

The Purple Raiders (16-3, 9-3 OAC) had three players score in double figures with senior Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with a 27-point, 11-rebound double-double. Sophomore Caleb Laurich (Akron / Copley) added in a career-high 18 points and senior Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) scored 14 points to round out the Raiders in double digits.

The Polar Bears (9-10, 4-8 OAC) was led by Carter Reese who scored a team-high 14 points and Will Miller who added in 12.

Mount Union opened the game on a massive 27-5 run over the first 8:55 of action, before Ohio Northern would answer with an 8-0 run over the 1:50 of game time to cut the lead down to 14 with 9:14 remaining in the first half. The Raiders and Polar Bears would trade baskets over the next several minutes until Mount Union would close the half on a 19-7 run over the final 4:23 of the half, capped off by a step-back three from Gurley as time expired to take a 55-29 lead into the halftime break.

The Raiders and the Polar Bears would trade baskets over the first five minutes of the second half, before a jumper from Parker sparked a 14-1 run over the next 3:52 to extend their lead to 80-45 with 11:33 remaining in the game. Ohio Northern wouldn't be able to get it closer than 18 over the final 11 minutes of game time as Mount Union would go on to win 96-78.

The Raiders are home again next when they host Muskingum on Wednesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. for Senior Night in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.