WILMINGTON, Ohio - The University of Mount Union ended the first half on a 31-15 run and held a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half in a 92-74 win over the Wilmington College men's basketball team in a battle of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) unbeatens at Hermann Court on Saturday.
The Fightin' Quakers opened the game with two triples from Kevin Lewis, a layup from Payton Smith and two baskets from DaeShawn Jackson, the second of which gave the hosts a 12-10 advantage with 13 minutes to play in the first half.
Wilmington would be forced to play catchup for the rest of the game, however, as the Purple Raider run that ended the first half up 41-28. The Quakers opened up the second half with two free throws and a triple from Abdul Kanu to get within eight points. Another Purple Raider run, this one a 12-0 spurt, put the visitors up 53-33 at the 15:10 mark.
The Quakers didn't pack it in as a Kevin Lewis dunk off a baseline out of bounds play got Wilmington within 11 (58-47) with just under 12 minutes to play. Five minutes later, a Will Patrick three-pointer dwindled the Mount Union advantage to single digits (71-62).
Wilmington would not get any closer, however, as a 12-2 run from the Purple Raiders that followed sealed the road win.
Mount Union shot the ball well in all three phases, converting 28-of-54 field goals (51.9 percent), 12-of-25 from three-point range (48.0 percent) and 24-of-28 (85.7 percent) from the free throw line. Wilmington countered with 23-of-60 (38.3 percent) from the field, 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) from distance and 18-of-22 (84.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
Jackson led all scorers with 27 points along with dishing out six assists, marking one off his career high in scoring. Lewis was the other Quaker to finish in double figures in scoring with 13 points.
Tommy Stenger led Mount Union with 22 points with Collen Gurley added 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench.
Wilmington (5-2, 2-1 OAC) returns to action at Marietta College next Saturday.
