WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Wilmington College men's basketball team hung with the University of Mount Union for nearly the entire game, but the Purple Raiders held on for a 97-85 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory at Fred Raizk Arena on Saturday afternoon.
After a miss to open the game, the Purple Raiders, who lead the league in scoring, hit three straight three-pointers to take a 9-2 lead early. The Quakers hung stayed within striking distance as a Collin Barker triple was followed by an Abdul Kanu layup to make the score 25-20 in favor of the visitors at the exact midway point of the half.
Mount Union rallied on its second unit to stretch its lead as Corey Hudson scored six points to put the visitors up 33-20 two-and-half-minutes later. The Purple Raiders stretched their lead to 16 and looked to blow the game open, but consecutive three-pointers from Kanu and Domenic Farley got the hosts within 10 at 38-28 at forced a timeout from Mount Union Head Coach Mike Fuline. The break in the action worked in the visitors' favor as Mount Union ended the half on a 9-5 run to lead 37-33 at intermission.
The Purple Raiders, ranked No. 5 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, opened up a 22-point advantage on a Chris Painter jumper with 12:21 to play, but Wilmington wouldn't quit. The Quakers chipped into the deficit over the next eight minutes and pulled to within eight (88-80) on three straight triples with two of them coming from Farley. The hosts would get a stop and get the ball back with a chance to get closer, but WC couldn't take advantage as the Mount Union scored the game's next seven points to seal the win.
Mount Union finished an even 50 percent (32-of-64) from the floor while Wilmington was 26-of-58 (44.8 percent). Coincidentally, both teams exactly nine triples, 24 free throws and grabbed 34 rebounds.
Indiivdually, Kanu finished with 20 points to lead the Quakers while Barker, Farley and Obed Achirem also finished in double figures. Christian Parker had 22 to lead all scorers for the Purple Raiders with Corey Hudson, Jeffery Mansfield, Braedon Poole and Collen Gurley all tallied double-figure scoring afternoons for Mount Union.
Wilmington (5-16, 2-12 OAC) hosts Muskingum University on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
