BEREA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University men's team shot a season-best .563 percent from the field and knocked down a season-high 17 three-pointers as it returned to Ohio Athletic Conference action with a 96-91 victory over the University of Mount Union in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.
BW (10-2, 4-1 OAC), whose 17 three-pointers were one shy of tying the school-record, had four players score in double figures led by senior All-OAC forward Jake Fetherolf (Norwalk) as scored a season-high 27 points, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and knocked down a career-best seven three-pointers. Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Cam Kuhn (Vermilion) poured in 25 points. Junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (Gahanna/Lincoln) scored 16 points while sophomore guard Michael Quiring (Brunswick) chipped in 11 points.
With his 27 points, Fetherolf is three points shy of becoming the 41st player in school history to score 1,000 career points and needs six points to move into 40th place. In addition, he will become just the 10th player to score 1,000 or more career points and grab 700 or more career rebounds as he currently ranks sixth in school history with 836 rebounds.
Mount Union (7-5, 3-2 OAC) had two players score in double digits led by senior All-OAC guard JJ Kukura as he scored a game-high 34 points. Junior forward Diallo Niamke contributed 10 points.
The Purple Raiders jumped out to an early 4-0 lead when Niamke knocked down a jumper at the 18:49 mark. The game would be tied three times of the next four minutes with the last coming at 13-13 on a three-pointer by Mount Union junior guard Andrew Francesconi at the 14:28 mark. The Yellow Jackets then used a 15-4 run to take a 28-17 advantage when Fetherolf knocked down a three-pointer at 7:55. The Purple Raiders fought back with a 16-4 run to take a 33-32 when senior forward Thomas Mason hit a jumper but missed the foul shot at the 3:56 mark. BW responded with a 11-0 run to take a 43-33 lead on a triple from Battle at 2:29. Mount Union outscored the Yellow Jackets, 5-4, down the stretch as Kukura knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to trail 47-38 at halftime.
The Purple Raiders continued the offensive attack to open the second half as they started the second stanza on an 8-5 run to cut the lead down to 52-46 on a layup by Kukura at the 16:55 mark. The Yellow Jackets answered with a 6-2 run to take a 58-48 lead when Fetherolf spilt a pair from the charity stripe at 14:36. BW pushed the lead to 78-56 on three-pointer from senior forward Mike Kaminski (Medina) at the 7:41 mark. Mount Union responded with an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 78-64 on a trey from Francesconi at 6:37. The Purple Raiders outscored the Yellow Jackets, 31-18, down the stretch but it was not enough.
BW is back in action on Saturday, January 6 when it travels to Wilmington for an OAC clash with Wilmington College in Fred Raizk Arena at 3 p.m. The Yellow Jackets return to the friendly confines of the Ursprung Gym on Wednesday, January 10 when they host an OAC game against Ohio Northern University at 7 p.m.
