ALLIANCE, Ohio—The Mount Union men's basketball team started their season hot with a win against Frankin & Marshall in Tinken Gymnasium on Friday evening.
The Purple Raiders (1-0) were led by junior
Jack Dunbar ( McMurray, Pa. / Peters Township) who scored a career and game-high 19 points. Senior
Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washinton) and sophomore
Landon Lear (Chesterland / West Geauga) both scored 14 points and sohpomore
Cam Weekly (Jackson / Massillon Jackson) added in 13.
The Diplomats (0-1) were led by Franklin Jones who scored 12 points and Carter Lawrence with 11, while Sean Donovan had 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Both teams went back-and-forth over the first 11 and a half minutes of the game before a 25-9 run by the Raiders over the final 7:53 of the half, capped by a jumper from Lear saw them take a 17-point 46-29 lead into the halftime break.
Mount Union would stretch their lead to 23 points over the first four minutes of the second half. The lead would slowly grow to 29 points over the next several minutes before the Diplomats would slowly start chipping away, trimming it to a 89-68 lead with just over two minutes left. Franklin & Marshall would then close the game on a 10-0 run but it wouldn't be enough as Mount Union would go on to win 89-78.
The Raiders are back in action again tomorrow for the final day of the M Club Classic, where they will take on Penn State Brandywine in the first part of tomorrow's doubleheader at 1 p.m. in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
