ALLIANCE, OHIO – Junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/ Parma Heights Holy Name) scored at the buzzer as the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival the University of Mount Union, 60-58, in the McPherson Academic & Athletic Complex.
 
With its victory, BW improved to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in the OAC and won its 12th victory in its last 13 games and a season sweep of the Purple Raiders. With its loss, Mt. Union dropped to 8-12 overall and 6-7 in the OAC and lost its second straight.
 
In addition to Krakowiak for BW, senior two-time Academic All-OAC forward Chris Ameen (Broadview Heights/ Walsh Jesuit) came off the bench to lead all scorers with 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Mt. Union was led by sophomore guard Nate Jakubec with 16 points  and senior forward Matt Kiger had 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

With his seven points tonight, BW junior two-time All-OAC forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) now has 1,079 career points and moved into 28th place on the all-time scoring list. Tonight, he surpassed No. 28 Ryan Sooy (1993-97), who had 1,072 points, and and No. 28 Brian Newland (1987-91), who had 1,074 points. Next up are No. 27 John Popp (1947-50), who had 1,090 points; No. 26 current Brunswick High School Head Coach Joe Mackey (1991-95), who had 1,095 points; No. 25 current BW Assistant Coach Jon Carroll (1999-2003), who had 1,098 points.
 
The Purple Raiders jumped out to an early, 4-0 lead at the 18:11 mark when Jacubec made a layup. BW came right back with a 7-0 run to take a 7-4 lead at 16:25 when Krakowiak made a jump shot.  After the game was tied at 7-7 and 9-9, BW gained a 13-9 lead at 11:02 when Ameen grabbed his second straight offensive rebound to score. 

The Yellow Jacket lead grew to 21-14 at 7:31 when senior Academic All-OAC guard Ben Umbel (Poland/ Seminary), but Mt. Union came right back with an 11-0 run to match its biggest lead at 25-21 at 4:06 when Jacubec made a jumper. BW answered right back with an 8-2 run to take a 29-27 lead when sophomore guard Jaron Crowe (Mentor) canned a trey at 2:43 and Ameen nailed a triple at 1:24.

Mt. Union's Kiger made two foul shots with 39 seconds left before halftime to tie the game for the third time at 29-29, but a Purple Raider foul with 1.9 seconds left sent Ameen to the foul line and he canned a pair of charity tosses to give BW a 31-29 advantage at the intermission.

In the second half, Mt. Union scored the first four points to take a 33-31 lead at 18:17 when freshman guard Cody Dillon made a jumper. After Umbel made a steal and scored to tie it at 33-33 at 18:03, the Purple Raiders regained the lead at 36-33 on a Jacubec triple at 17-10.

Following four lead changes and a tie, Ameen took control for BW a nailed back-to-back three-pointers at 13:40 and 13:13 to give his team a 46-42 lead. After BW gained its second straight four-point lead at 48-44, Mt. Union outscored the Yellow Jackets 10-3 to take a 54-51 lead at 9:17 when Jacubec made an old-fashioned three-point play.

BW scored six straight points to retake the lead at 57-54 with 4:22 left when Umbel made an acrobatic layup. Mt. Union tied it at 57-57 at 3:27 when Jacubec scored, was fouled and made the foul shot. Mt. Union then took a 58-57 lead when sophomore forward Steve Griffin made one of two foul shots at 2:19, but Krakowiak tied it at 58-58 when he made one of two charity tosses with 55 seconds left.

That set up Krakowiak's final heroics.
 
The Yellow Jacket men are back in action this Saturday, February 2 when BW hosts the 34th Annual Al Sirat Grotto Basketball Game against OAC foe Wilmington College at 3:00 p.m. Partial gate proceeds from that game go to benefit the Grotto's philanthropy of assisting young people afflicted with cerebral palsy. For more information, please call Grotto Chairman David Finley at 216-574-4814.
 
FOR MORE BW 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.