ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team fell to the University of Mount Union in the second game of the home-and-home Ohio Athletic Conference series by a final score of 89-80 inside the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
BW (0-2, 0-2 OAC) had four players score in double figures led for the second straight night by sophomore guard Anthony Mazzeo (North Canton/Massillon Jackson) as he knocked down 21 points, including 12 in the second stanza. Freshman guard Drew Wennes (Huron) scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a team and career-best nine rebounds. Junior guard Shane Zalba (Mentor) poured in a career-high 17 points and dished out a team-best three assists. Sophomore guard Jake Snyder (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) contributed a career-high 10 points.
Mount Union (2-0, 2-0 OAC), who has won the last four meetings, had five players score in double figures led by junior forward Braedon Poole as he scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed a game-best 14 rebounds. Junior guard Ethan Stanislawski and sophomore guard Chris Painter each tallied 15 points. Junior guard Collen Gurley chipped in 11 points and senior forward Logan Hill contributed 10.
The Yellow Jackets took an early 8-2 on three straight layups by Zalba and a jumper by Mazzeo with the last coming at the 16:42 mark. The Purple Raiders responded with an 7-2 run to cut the lead down to 10-9 on a jumper by junior guard Collen Gurley at 12:22. After the game was tied at 13-13 at the 11:12 mark, Mount Union jumped out to a 25-17 lead on a layup by Logan Hill at 6:45. BW closed out the half on an 18-9 run to take a 35-34 lead into the intermission on the layup by Snyder with seven seconds left.
The Purple Raiders opened the second half on an 15-5 run to take a 49-40 lead on a layup by Hill at the 15:11 mark. After a jumper by Yellow Jacket sophomore forward Jackson Simmons (Wadsworth) at the 14:58 mark, Mount Union pushed its lead to 53-42 on a jumper by Poole at 14:00. BW cut the lead down to 59-52 on a layup by freshman forward Christian Pfeiffer (Amherst) at the 10:06 mark. The Purple Raiders responded with a 14-7 run to take a 73-59 lead on layup by Poole at 5:38. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to 73-64 on a trey from Wennes at the 4:48 mark. Both teams each scored 16 points down the stretch with BW scoring the final points of the game on a layup by Mazzeo with three seconds left to make the score 89-80.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Friday, January 29 when they travel to Marietta for the first game of the home-and-home OAC series against Marietta College in the Ban Johnson Arena at 7 p.m. BW returns home for the second and final game of the weekend series on Saturday, January 30 against the Pioneers at 6 p.m.
