ALLIANCE, Ohio – The No. 24 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team beat Heidelberg 91-85 in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday evening.

The Purple Raiders (20-6, 12-6 OAC) had six players score in double figures with senior Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) leading the way with 21 points. Junior Marcus Steele (Stow) and senior Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) both added in 14 points, senior Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) and freshman Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washington) scored 12 points apiece and sophomore Corey Hudson (Columbus / Pickerington) added in 10 to round out the Raiders in double digits.

The Student Princes (16-11, 11-7 OAC) were led by Eric Panning who scored a game-high 23 points, Isaiah Young who added 21 points and Zane Leitwein scored 13.

Both teams opened the game trading baskets over the first four minutes of action before a 9-0 Mount Union run saw the Raiders take an 18-9 lead with 14:44 to play in the first half. Heidelberg answered with a 10-0 run of their own over the next 2:50 of game time to take a 19-18 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half. The Raiders would come back with a 25-9 run of their own over the next five and a half minutes to take their biggest lead of the game at 43-28 with six minutes left to play in the first half. The Student Princes would close the first half on a 17-7 run to cut the lead down to 50-45 heading into the halftime break.

The second half started with both teams trading baskets before a 9-2 run from Mount Union saw them stretch their lead to 74-64 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Heidelberg would answer with an 11-3 run of their own over the next 5:38 of game time to cut the lead down to two with 3:53 left to play in the game. The Raiders would outscore the Student Princes 14-10 over the final 3:35 of game time and would go on to win 91-85.

With the win the Raiders advance to Saturday's OAC Championship game against John Carroll. Since John Carroll is the top seed in the tournament the game will be in University Heights and will tip-off at 2 p.m.