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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team came up short in a very low-scoring Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup Saturday on its home floor, falling 55-42 against Mount Union inside the Rike Center.

Both teams struggled offensively throughout a somewhat sluggish first half that featured 16 turnovers and 21 fouls. The two sides combined to shoot 14 of 50 in the frame, in which neither side led by more than four points. A pair of three-pointers from Otterbein senior guard Corey Howard kept the game within one possession, 23-22 entering the break.

The Cards stayed close through the first four minutes after intermission and trailed just 31-29, but a scoring drought allowed Mount Union to string together a difference-making 12-0 run and never look back. The Purple Raiders maintained that double-digit lead the rest of the way, pushing the gap to as many as 19 en route to victory.

Otterbein shot just 13 of 55 (.236) from the field and was led by eight points from both Justin Carter and Nick Koontz, with the scrappy Koontz also tallying four steals. Junior big man Connor Clark pulled down a game-best 13 rebounds.

Both sides finished a combined 9 of 47 from three-point range, but the Raiders did go 40 percent overall as a group and secure a 22-16 scoring edge in the paint. Both teams had an identical 19 bench points.

Otterbein will be back in action next Wednesday evening, traveling to University Heights to square off against John Carroll at 7 p.m.