Box Score
WESTERVILLE, OHIO – A late three-pointer by freshman guard RaNeal Ewing came up short, and the University of Mount Union held off the Cardinals 48-44 Saturday night at the Rike Center.
Otterbein University drops its seventh-consecutive game and falls to 2-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), 5-12 overall this season. The victory for Mount Union propels the Purple Raiders to 8-9 overall, 4-6 in the OAC.
Mount Union had their lead trimmed to 46-43 after senior guard Brice Rausch made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left in the game. Otterbein fouled immediately following the ensuing in-bound and Purple Raider freshman guard Nate Jacubec missed the first shot of a one-and-one free-throw attempt.
With 10 seconds left, Ewing attempted a three-pointer from the right-side that found iron and was rebounded out by Mount Union. The Purple Raiders made a pair of free throws and held on for the win.
Ewing led the Cardinals with 12 points, while senior Chirs Davis pulled in a game-high 12 rebounds to go with his eight points. Jacubec and senior forward Jimmy Wood led Mount Union with 21 and 16 points, respectively. No one else for the Purple Raiders scored more than four points.
Rausch added 11 points in the loss. The Marysville native now only needs eight points to reach the 1,000 career point plateau.
The Cardinals trailed 25-17 at halftime. Otterbein opened the second half with a 14-5 run to take a 31-30 lead with 10:40 remaining in the game. Mount Union shot 2-of-12 during the Cardinal run.
The Raiders responded when Jacubec capped off a 12-3 run with a jump shot to make the score 42-34 with 2:29 left in the contest.
The Cardinals followed by tallying six consecutive points, including an old fashioned three-point play by Ewing, to make the score 42-40 with 46 seconds remaining in the game.
Both teams experienced problems shooting from the field. Mount Union shot just 31.5 percent, while Otterbein managed to shoot just 34.1 percent.
Although the Cardinals held a significant edge in free throw attempts (27-to-9), Otterbein only shot 55.6 percent for the night.
The Cardinals return to action Wednesday night, Jan. 25, when they host Ohio Northern. The opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
