ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's basketball team lost an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup 77-72 against John Carroll on Wednesday evening.
The Purple Raiders (13-7, 10-3 OAC) had four players score in double figures with fifth-year
Christian Parker (Canton / GlenOak) leading the way with a team-high 21 points, while freshman
Chance Casenhiser (Uniontown / Lake) added in 13 points. Senior
Jamarr Talbert Jr. (Richmond Heights) and sophomore
Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washington) scored 11 and 10 respectively to round out the Raiders in double digits.
The Blue Streaks (15-5, 10-3 OAC) were led by Henry Raynor who scored a game-high 37 points, Luke Frazier who added in 15 and Will Yontek who scored 10 points.
John Carroll jumped out to an early 17-7 lead over the first six minutes of action, before Mount Union would answer with a 17-6 run of their own over the next 4:44 of action to take a 24-23 lead with 9:22 remaining in the first half. The Raiders would continue adding to their lead over the next five and a half minutes of game time stretching it out to 12 with just under four minutes to play in the half. The Blue Streaks wouldn't get closer than eight over the remainder of the half as Mount Union would take a 46-36 lead into the halftime break.
John Carroll would open the second half with a 14-3 run over the first 6:33 of the half to take a 50-49 lead with 13:44 left to play in the game. Both teams would trade baskets over the next five minutes of game time before the Blue Streaks would go on a quick 7-0 run to take a 65-59 lead with six and a half minutes remaining in the game. The Raiders would answer with a quick run of their own to tie the game at 68 with 3:53 left to play, they wouldn't be able to reclaim the lead however as John Carroll would go on to outscore them 9-4 over the final 3:53 of game time to take the 77-72 victory.
The Raiders are home again next when they host Otterbein in an OAC matchup on Saturday, February 8 at 3 p.m. in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
