ALLIANCE, Ohio—The no. 11 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team took down Muskingum 88-62 in Ohio Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon.
The Purple Raiders (20-2, 11-2 OAC) were led by sophomore
Chance Casenhiser (Uniontown / Lake) who scored a game-high 24 points. Junior
Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washington) recorded his third straight double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, junior
Shaun Vaden (Cleveland / Cornerstone Christian) scored a career-high 15 points and senior
Kevin Moore (Youngstown / Campbell Memorial) rounded out the Raiders in double digits with 12 points.
The Fighting Muskies (13-8, 5-7 OAC) were led by Duane Davis with 12 points, Brett DeVault and Rob Oster added 10 points apiece.
Mount Union jumped out to an early 7-2 lead as three different Raiders scored, capped off by a pull up jumper from Casenhiser. Muskingum responded by taking an 11-10 lead but Mount Union responded with a dunk from Vaden and a layup from Casenhiser. With the score tied at 18 Mount Union procced to go on an 8-0 run as Casenhiser had four of the points taking a 26-18 lead with 7:05 remaining in the half. Mount Union over the final 6:13 went on a 13-3 run as Moore had nine of the points helping Mount Union grab its largest lead of 39-23 at the half.
Mount Union extended their lead to 20 just 40 seconds into the second half. Muskingum responded with a 12-4 run trimming the lead to single digits at 47-38. Mount Union responded with a 14-2 run as Vaden scored nine of the points as Mount Union took a 61-40 lead. Mount Union held the lead of 15 or more over the final 11 minutes as Mount Union takes the 88-62 win.
Mount Union remains at home on Wednesday, February 11
th when they host OAC opponent Heidelberg at 7 p.m. in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.