ALLIANCE, OHIO -  Senior guard Zane Meeder (Erie, Pa./ Fairview) scored a game-high 18 points as the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team fell to the University of Mount Union, 74-70, tonight (Monday, January 17, 2011) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.  

In addition to Meeder for BW, now 7-8 overall and 3-5 in the OAC, freshman guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/Holy Name) had 12 points and freshman forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) had 10.  Sophomore forward Chris Ameen (Broadview Heights/ Walsh Jesuit) led BW with nine caroms.  For Mt. Union, now 8-8 overall and 6-3 in the OAC, senior guard Ben Hodkinson and senior forward Dave Pellerite led the way with 17 points each.  In addition, the Purple Raiders also received 16 points from junior forward Matt Wier and 12 from junior forward Jimmy Wood. Pellerite also led all rebounders with 11 for a double-double.  

In the first half, Mt. Union grabbed a 2-0 lead before BW scored five straight points to take a 5-2 lead at the 18:26 mark when Krakowiak made a three-pointer. The Purple Raiders then came right back with four straight points of their own for a 6-5 lead at the 17:27 mark when junior forward Jimmy Wood made one of two foul shots.

BW then went on its own 7-0 run to take a 12-6 lead at the 16:22 mark when Payne made a layup, was fouled, but missed his free throw.  After Mt. Union cut BW's lead to 14-12 with 14:34 left in the stanza, BW went on an 11-point run to build n 11-point lead at 23-12 with 9:45 left when senior guard Taylor Roth (Sandusky/ St. Mary's Central Catholic) canned a three-pointer.

After BW built its lead to 12 points at 25-13, Mt. Union scored four straight points to cut the lead to eight points before a pair of Roth foul shots at 5:20 at another pair by Krakowiak at 4:48 pushed it back to 12 at 29-17. Undaunted, Mt. Union scored five straight points to close to 29-22 before a Roth free throw at 3:34 made the score 30-22. The Raiders continued their run as they scored four straight points to cut the lead to four points at 30-26 before rebound basket by sophomore forward Sean Rothermel (Delaware/ Hayes) at 1:46 made the score 32-26.

Mt. Union then tied the game at 32-32 on back-to-back three-pointers by Pellierite at 1:13 and by Hodkinson at 49 seconds and prompt a BW timeout. The score remained tied at halftime as Mt. Union cloed the first session on a 15-3 run.

In the second half, BW regained the lead at 37-32 when it scored the first five points, including a three-pointer by Meeder with 19:01 left in the contest. The lead then grew to seven points at 40-32 with 17:54 left when Krakowiak made a trey.  Mt. Union then went on a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 42-40 when Wier canned a long triple with 14:41 left. BW then came right back to tie the game at 42-42 when Meeder made two foul shots at 14:24.

Mt. Union regained the lead at 44-42 at 12:46 when Hodkinson made a layup. After BW cut the lead to 44-43 with a free throw, Hodkinson canned a triple at 12:06 to give the Purple Raiders their largest advantage at 47-43.  After The Purple Raiders built a 49-43 lead, BW went on a 9-4 run to close to 53-52 when freshman guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland) made a three-pointer at 6:34. Undaunted, Mt. Unin got a pair of foul shots from Wier at 6:17 and a three-pointer by Pellerite at 5:51 to push the lead back to 58-52.

BW then wet on a 5-0 run of its own to cut the lead to 58-57 when Meeder canned a try at 3:55. Then after a Pellerite basket at 3:41, Meeder made a layup, was fouled and made the free throw at 3:13 to tie the score at 60-60.  The Raiders regained the lead at 62-60 with 3:01 left when freshman guard T.J. Gillespie made two foul shots. The lead then grew to five points at 65-60 at 2:01 when Wier made a layup, was fouled and made the foul shot.

Meeder came right back to make his own basket, was fouled and made the free throw to cut the lead to 65-63 with 1:47 left. A Wood basket at 1:37 gave Mt. Union at 67-63 lead.  With 38 seonds left, Ameen scored, was fouled, but missed the free throw.  Forced to foul, BW fouled Hodkinson with 32 seconds left and he promptly made both charity tosses for a 69-65 lead.

BW again cut the lead to two points at 69-67 on a layup by junior All-OAC guard Promis Cabbil (Elyria) with 25 seconds left.  Wood then iced the game when he made a pair of foul shots with 17 seconds left and Pellerite added two more with nine seconds left to make the score 73-67.  A three-point basket by Fairhurst with three seconds left again cut the lead to 73-70. With 1.3 seconds let, BW fouled Hodkinson, who missed the first free throw, but ended matters when he made the second.

BW will return to action on Wednesday, January 19 when it travels to Westerville, Ohio to play OAC-rival Otterbein University in the Rike Center at 7:30 p.m. Fans can listen to all of the action on either campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, or via the WBW Internet web site at www.wBW.com. This Saturday, Jan. 22, the BW men host OAC-rival Marietta College in the nightcap of a women's and men's doubleheader in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 4:00 p.m. The BW and Marietta women tipoff at 2:00 p.m.

In addition, two BW women's and men's basketball doubleheaders will be telecast on SportsTime Ohio this winter. The games are the January 29, 2011 twinbill versus Wilmington College and the Third Annual Take a Kid to the Game Day doubleheader versus Ohio Northern University on February 19, 2011.

Also on Jan. 29 when the Yellow Jackets play Wilmington, it is Al Sirat Grotto Day with partial gate proceeds going to benefit the Grotto's two philanthropies of assisting handicapped children with dentistry expenses and assisting the expenses for children with cerebral palsy.

FOR MORE SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.