ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 16 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Muskingum University 77-66 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday evening.
Mount Union (17-3, 10-3 OAC) honored its senior
Jared Young (Twinsburg) before the game.
The Purple Raiders were led by senior
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) with 33 points and 12 rebounds, and graduate student
Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) and sophomore
Corey Hudson (Columbus / Pickerington) with 12 points individually. Sophomore
Caleb Laurich (Akron / Copley) lead with 14 rebounds.
Muskingum (5-15, 1-12 OAC) were led by Duane Davis with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Luken Hill with 15 rebounds.
Mount Union came out strong going on a 10-2 scoring run, led by Parker, within the first five minutes of the first half. Muskingum was quick to respond to Mount Union by going on a 7-1 scoring run to close the gap to 11-9, with Mount Union keeping their lead. Both teams went back-and-forth, but Muskingum was able to get the upper hand and take their first lead of the game 14-13. Muskingum and Mount Union continued to fight to get points on the board, getting to a tied game 28-28 with five minutes remaining in the half. Mount Union was able to go on a 9-7 scoring run to close out the half and take the lead 37-35 going into half time.
Muskingum was able to get the first points of the half, but the Raiders came back going on an 8-2 scoring run to extend their lead 45-39. Mount Union continued to extend their lead going on an 8-0 scoring run making the score 53-39. Muskingum was determined to stay in it, responding with a 12-3 scoring run to close the score gap 56-51 with the Raiders still ahead. The Raiders continued to get some points on the board, giving them a larger lead, going on an 10-3 scoring run, making the score 66-54. The Raiders continued their run going on a 10-4 scoring run making the score 76-61. The Raiders were able to keep their lead and win the game 77-66.
The Raiders will travel to Columbus on Saturday, February 3 to take on Capital in an OAC conference matchup at 1 p.m.
