Furious rally falls just short as Men's Basketball falls 79-71 at Mount Union
By Tim Glon
ADA — Ohio Northern got 28 points, nine rebounds and four assists from senior All-American center Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local), but the ONU men's basketball team fell 79-71 at Mount Union on Saturday afternoon at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
The Polar Bears fall to 4-15 overall and 0-12 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Purple Raiders improve to 15-4, 9-3.
Senior forward Daniel Donner (Belleville/Northmor) added 11 points and juniors Caleb Bryan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) and Austin Allemeier (Lima/Elida) chipped in 10 points each for ONU.
UMU had three players in double figures in scoring, led by Nathan Bower-Malone with 20.
The Purple Raiders built a 66-48 lead with 7:45 left in the game, but the Polar Bears mounted a furious rally.
A 10-0 run, sparked by seven consecutive points from Bruns and a 3-pointer from sophomore Colton Bachman (Piqua), pulled ONU within 3:59 left.
A 3 by senior Kevin Austin (Cincinnati/Winton Woods) made it 77-71 with 19 seconds to play, but Bower-Malone would make two free throws five seconds later and UMU would hold on for the win.
Ohio Northern made 24-of-54 field goal attempts for 44.4 percent and were 7-of-17 from 3-point range for 41.2 percent, while Mount Union was 32-of-62 from the field for 51.6 percent and made 4-of-15 shots from beyond the arc for 26.7 percent.
ONU won the rebounding battle 33-30. UMU forced Ohio Northern into 14 turnovers, while Northern's defense forced five Mount Union turnovers.
The Polar Bears will return home on Wednesday for a 7 pm contest against Baldwin Wallace at the ONU Sports Center.