UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The No. 24 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team lost to No. 3 John Carroll 88-86 in overtime in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday afternoon.
The Purple Raiders (20-7, 12-6 OAC) had four players score in double figures with senior
Collen Gurley (Akron / Hoban) leading the way with a game-high 30 points. Seniors
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) and
Darrell Newsom (Twinsburg) both added in 14 points and freshman
Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washington) scored 10 to round out the Raiders in double digits.
The Blue Streaks (25-2, 17-1 OAC) were led by Luke Frazier who scored a team-high 28 points, Henry Raynor who added in 16 and Luke Chicone who scored 13 points.
John Carroll opened the game with a massive 26-4 run over the first 8:54 of game time, before Mount Union would respond with a 13-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to 26-17 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half. The Blue Streaks would go on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to push the lead back out to 18 with 6:58 left to play in the half. The Raiders would go on to outscore John Carroll 19-13 over the final 6:42 of the first half to cut the lead down to 48-36 heading into the halftime break.
After trading baskets over the first three minutes of the second half a 9-2 run from the Raiders saw them cut the lead down to 12 with 13:41 left to play in the game. After trading baskets over the next several minutes, Mount Union would go on a massive 25-10 run over the next 8:08 of game time to tie the game at 75 with 1:49 remaining in the game. Farrington got fouled with 3.2 seconds remaining in the game and sunk both free throws to give the Raiders a 79-77 lead before Chicone got fouled with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock and also made both free throws to send the game to overtime tied at 79.
Neither team was able to gain an edge over the first two minutes of the overtime period before a 7-0 John Carroll run saw them take an 88-83 lead with 1:01 remaining in the overtime period. Gurley hit a three with 48 seconds left to cut the lead down to two and after getting a stop on the defensive end Gurley's shot at the buzzer to win it fell short and the Blue Streaks would win the game 88-86.
Parker and Gurley were both named to the OAC All-Tournament team for their performances in the OAC Tournament.
The Raiders will now have to wait and see if they get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament when the NCAA Selection Show airs on Monday, February 26 at 1 p.m.
