Aron Thress leads Men's Basketball in 89-83 loss at No. 25 Mount Union

By Caleb Scott

ADA -- Junior Aron Thress led the Ohio Northern men's basketball team as they fell to No. 25-ranked Mount Union 89-83 Saturday afternoon at the MAAC in Alliance. 

The Polar Bears fall to 9-11 overall and 6-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Purple Raiders improve to 14-5, 10-2.

Northern had four athletes score in double figures on the afternoon.

The Polar Bear offense was led by a team-high 21 points from Thress. 

Juniors Konnor Baker and Joey Hurless added 13 points and 11 points, respectively, while sophomore Joey DiOrio chipped in 12 points.

Northern would waste no time gaining the lead as they opened the contest with a 14-2 run keyed by seven points from Baker. 

After a 3-pointer from MtU ended the run, Hurless would answer with the three pointer of his own to give Northern a 17-5 lead with 14:03 remaining in the contest. 

After a three pointer from sophomore Ryan Geise extended the Polar Bear lead to 40-24, Mount Union would close the half on a 16-3 run to pull within 43-40 at the intermission.

MtU would gain its first lead of the afternoon after a 3-pointer from Cody Dillon put the Purple Raiders ahead 49-47 with 17:39 remaining in the contest. 

After exchanging buckets for the next several minutes, Geise would drill a three pointer with 7:36 remaining to tie the game at 70-70.

ONU would match Mount Union on the next two scoring possessions to keep the contest locked at 74-74 with 4:25 left to play. 

From there a three pointer from Mount Union would give the Purple Raiders the lead for good as they went on to win 89-83. 

The Polar Bears shot 31-of-57 (54.4 percent) from the field, including 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) from the three point line, while the Purple Raiders shot 32-of-64 (50.0 percent) from the field, including 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) from beyond the arc. 

Northern was edged by a 33-30 margin on the boards. 

Ohio Northern will return to action Wednesday as they welcome Heidelberg to the ONU Sports Center for a 7:30 pm tipoff.