Mount Union College's (14-13) men's basketball team, the #7 seed, suffered an 85-50 setback to Baldwin-Wallace College (19-8), the #6 seed, in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semi-Finals played on the campus of John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, Friday evening, February 25.
Christopher Blakely '04
The Yellow Jackets went up 6-0 early and never looked back, extending their lead to as many as 20 at 40-20 with 2:13 remaining in the first half. Baldwin-Wallace took a 41-22 lead to the lockerroom despite a 6-for-6 shooting performance by Mount Union senior/forward Chris Blakely in the first half.
In the second half, the Jackets would build on their lead - taking it to 81-42 with just over two minutes remaining in the contest. The win puts the Yellow Jackets into the conference Tournament Championship game Saturday evening, February 26 versus the winner of the Muskingum - John Carroll match-up.
The Raiders were led by Blakely's 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior/post Kyle Karpinski added 13 points and seven caroms. Baldwin-Wallace was paced by forward Tori Davis' 18 points and forward Thad Davis' 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Jackets shot .534 from the field compared to .328 for Mount Union. The Raiders were only 1-of-18 from beyond the three-point stripe (.056) while the Yellow Jackets finished 8-of-15 (.533) from beyond the arc. Baldwin-Wallace also had a 43-31 rebounding edge.
"Everything that went right for us at Capital Wednesday night turned around on us today," said Raider head coach Lee Hood in the post-game press conference. "Obviously, you have to credit Baldwin-Wallace with good defense. That was a big part of it. However, we also didn't hit shots we normally make. You have to score to win and we had some good looks. They just wouldn't go down and you can't dig such a huge hole for yourself against a team as good as B-W and expect to climb out."
The Raiders finished the 2004-05 season posting their ninth winning campaign in the last 10 years overall.
"I'm proud of the way our seniors led us this year," added Hood. "We got off to a rocky 3-6 start but didn't quit. We finished winning six of our last nine and we fought hard to the end tonight."