With the win, the Purple Raiders improve to 10-12 overall and 8-7 in the OAC. With their loss, the Yellow Jackets drop to 12-10 overall and 7-8 in the OAC.  

In addition to Pellerite for the Purple Raiders, sophomore center Wes Knavel had 15 points, senior guard Sam King and junior guard Ben Hodkinson each had 13 points and sophomore forward Jimmy Wood had 12. BW was led by senior forward Kyle Brown (Strongsville) with a game-high 25 points. In addition, junior guard Zane Meeder (Erie, Pa./ Fairview) had 16 points, freshman forward Chris Ameen (Broadview Heights/ Walsh Jesuit) had 12 and sophomore point guard Promis Cabbil (Elyria/ Senior) had 11.

In the first half, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the 15:49 mark when Ameen made a layup. BW extended its lead to 20-8 with 6:25 left when Meeder made a pair of foul shots. The lead grew to 14 points at 28-14 and then at 31-17 with 1:04 left before the intermission when freshman forward Ed Householder (North Jackson/ Tallmadge) made a three-pointer. The lead remained at 14 at 33-19 with 31 seconds left whenCabbil made a layup. The score remained the same at halftime.

In the second half, BW's lead grew to a high of 20 points at 39-19 when Brown canned a pair of three-pointers to open the stanza with the last at 18:41. The Purple Raiders then closed to within 13 points at 39-26 with a 7-0 run at the 16:38 mark when Wood made two foul shots.

Undaunted, BW went on a 10-2 run that was capped by a pair of three-pointers by Householder at 14:08 and then sophomore guard Scott Voiers (Westlake/ Lutheran West) at 13:38 to move the lead to a game-high of 21 points at 49-28. The Purple Raiders came right back with an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 53-39 with 8:59 left when Hodkinson made a pair of foul shots.

BW again gained a 16-point lead at 57-41 with 7:35 left when Ameen made a jumper. Mt. Union then outscored BW 18-6 to close to within 63-59 at the 1:49 mark when Pellerite made a jumper, was fouled and then made the free throw. A Pellerite basket at 1:32 made it a two-point game at 63-61 and another layup with 33 seconds then tied the score at 63-63.  A Meeder layup with two seconds missed and sent the game into the extra session.

In the first overtime, Brown gave BW a 65-63 lead at 4:43 before Knavel made a pair of layups to give Mt. Union its first lead at 67-65 with 3:34 left. Brown again tied it at 67-67 with a jumper at 3:15. A Pellerite foul shot at 2:49 and two more by Knavel gave the Raiders a 70-67 lead with 2:09 left.  A Cabbil steal and Meederlayup at 1:37 brought BW back to 70-69. A pair of Hodkinson foul shots with 21 seconds left pushed the lead to 72-69. Not to be outdone, Brown canned a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to tie it again at 72-72. Mt. Union had a chance to win it but a King jumper was short and a rebound shot did not beat the buzzer.

In the second overtime, Brown gave BW a 74-72 lead with 4:36 let when he made a jumper. Then senior forward Paul Glass (Medina/ Senior) gave the Jackets a 76-72 lead with a pair of foul shots at 4:18. A Knavel layup made the score 76-74 and Brown moved it back to four points at 78-74 with 3:37 left on another made jumper. The Raiders again closed to two points at 78-76 with 2:34 left when King made a pair of foul shots. A Brown foul shot with 2:27 left made the score 79-76, but Pellerite made a jumper at 2:12, was fouled and made the foul shot to tie it again at 79-79.

Mt. Union regained the lead at 81-79 with 1:22 left when King made a layup. Brown, not to be outdone, tied it again at 81-81 with a jumper at 1:05. Pellerite gave Mt. Union the lead back at 83-81 with a layup with 43 seconds left. BW closed to 83-82 when Glass made one of two foul shots with 20 seconds left but Pellerite countered with one of two with 13 seconds left to make the score 84-82.  After Glass missed a jumper with seven seconds left, Pellerite was fouled with five seconds left. He missed both foul shots and BW had one last chance to tie or win, but a Cabbil shot did not find its mark.

The Yellow Jackets return to action this Saturday, February 13 when they host Muskingum University on Al Sirat Grotto Day in the Ursprung Gymnasium of the Lou Higgins Center at 3:00 p.m. Partial gate proceeds will benefit the Monarch Scholarship Fund.