NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The no. 12 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Muskingum 85-82 in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.

The Purple Raiders (9-0, 2-0 OAC) had four players score in double figures with junior Kevin Hamilton (Akron / St. Vincent St. Mary) leading the way with a season-high 23 points. Senior Caleb Laurich (Akron / Copley) scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season, with sophomores Chance Casenhiser (Uniontown / Lake) and Jarrett Taylor (Uniontown / Green) rounding out the Raiders in double digits, scoring 16 and 11 points respectively.

The Fighting Muskies (8-1, 2-1 OAC) were led by Duane Davis who scored a game-high 25 points, Owen Emig who added in 17 and Roman Crosby who scored 16 points.

The teams would be tied as 12 after going back and forth over the first six minutes of action, the game saw three lead changes over this period. They would continue to trade baskets over the next 12:19 of game time with the lead never growing larger than four over that time and the lead changing hands seven times and the game was tied nine times during this time. Mount Union would go on to score the final seven points of the half to take the largest lead of the game into the halftime break at 46-40.

Muskingum would open the second half with a quick 6-0 run to tie the game with 17:42 left to play in the game. The teams would continue to trade the lead back and forth over the next several minutes before a quick 8-0 run from the Raiders gave them their largest lead of the game at 62-55 with just under 12 minutes remaining. The Muskies would slowly chip away at the Mount Union lead over the next four and a half minutes, cutting it to just two points with 8:19 left to play. The Raiders would answer with a 7-0 run to push the lead back out to nine points with 5:28 remaining in the game. Muskingum would once again cut into the lead over the next several minutes, trimming it to just a point with seven seconds to go. That was as close as they would get, however, after a pair of clutch free throws from senior Kevin Moore (Youngstown / Campbell Memorial) with just five seconds left gave Mount Union the 85-82 victory.

The Raiders return home next when they host Baldwin Wallace in an OAC matchup on Tuesday, December 16 at 7 p.m. in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.