ALLIANCE, Ohio – The no. 9 nationally ranked Mount Union men's basketball team defeated Ohio Northern 73-71 in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
The win improved the Purple Raiders to 11-0 which gives them their best start in program history, passing the 10-0 mark that was set in the 1925-26 season.
The Raiders (11-0, 4-0 OAC) were led by sophomore
Chance Casenhiser (Uniontown / Lake) who scored a game-high 19 points. Junior
Elijah Farrington (Massillon / Massillon Washington) and senior
Dante Collier (Columbus / Licking Heights) both added nine points.
The Polar Bears (5-5, 1-2 OAC) were led by Will Miller, Theo Maag and Aiden Harris who all scored a team-high 12 points.
Mount Union would jump out to an early 9-4 lead over the first five and a half minutes of the game. Ohio Northern would answer with a 10-2 run of their own over the next 2:06 of game time to take a 14-11 lead with 12:26 to play in the first half. The Polar Bears would continue building on their lead over the next 3:50 pushing it out to eight points with just over eight and a half minutes remaining in the first half. The Raiders would answer with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 22 apiece with 5:26 to play in the half. Both teams would trade baskets back and forth over the final five minutes of the half as Mount Union would take a narrow 33-31 lead into the halftime break.
Ohio Northern would open the second half with a 14-3 run over the first 3:47 to take a 45-36 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining in the game. The Raiders would come storming back once again going on a 13-0 run over the next 4:47 of action to reclaim the lead at 49-45 with just under eleven and a half minutes to play in the game. Mount Union would maintain their lead over the final eleven and a half minutes of game time with it never growing larger than seven but the Polar Bears never getting closer than two as they would go on to win 73-71.
The Raiders are home again next when they host Mount Aloysius on Monday, December 29 at 7 p.m. on the first day of the M Club Classic in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.
