BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team defeated the University of Mount Union by a score of 80-75 in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.

BW (12-12, 7-10 OAC) had four players score in double figures led by sophomore guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) as he scored a team-high 19 points.  Junior forward Mike Kaminski(Medina) chipped in 12 points, junior All-OAC guard Cam Kuhn (Vermilion) scored 11 and senior guard Zack Brandy (Hudson) chipped in 10.

Mount Union (13-11, 8-9 OAC) had three players score in double figures led by senior guard DeAllen Jackson with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Nathan Bower-Malone contributed 17 and sophomore forward Diallo Niamke added 10.

In the first half, the Purple Raiders would get out to an early 10-4 lead after a layup from Niamke at the 15:48 mark.  The Yellow Jackets would come swarming back with a 16-4 run of their own after a three-pointer from freshman guard Michael Quiring (Brunswick) gave BW a 20-14 lead at the 11:26 mark.  A sizable 12-2 run from Mount Union on a three pointer from sophomore guard Jeff Foreman would extend the Purple Raider lead to four.  Baldwin Wallace would close the lead to one, 39-38, entering the intermission fueled by seven points from Battle in a minute and a half stretch.  Mount Union scored 22 points led by Niamke as he scored 10 in the half.  

In the second half, a back and forth opening seven minutes would finally be broken by an off balance Brandy layup falling away towards the baseline to give BW a 51-50 lead at the 13:19 mark. The Yellow Jackets would take this lead and run with it as a floater in the lane from Quiring would cap off a 13-2 run and give BW their largest lead of the game 62-52 at the 10:05 mark.  A late 10-4 run from the Purple Raiders would close the Yellow Jacket lead to four, 66-62, after a layup from junior forward Thomas Mason with 4:19 left in the game.  Late game free throws would fall for the Yellow Jackets, as they did all game, finished 20 for 20 from the line for the game. 

BW will be back in action on Saturday, February 18 when it travels to Wilmington for an Ohio Athletic Conference game against Wilmington College in the Fred Raizk Arena at 3 p.m. 

The Ohio Athletic Conference tournament begins on Tuesday, February 21 when the top-four seeds host quarterfinal games at 7 p.m. The top two remaining seeds will host the semifinal games on Thursday, February 23 at 7 p.m. The championship game will be contested on Saturday, February 25 at a time to be announced.