WILMINGTON — Jeffery Mansfield’s career-high 41 points was not enough Saturday as Mount Union defeated Wilmington College 92-84 Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference play at Fred Raizk Arena.
Mansfield’s 41 points came on 11-for-16 shooting from the field and a record performance at the free throw line. The Wilmington High School product was 19-of-19 from the free throw line, breaking Christian Jones’ single-game record of 18 made free throws against Mount St. Joseph in 2014-15.
Abdul Kanu tied his career high with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.
Mount Union finished 30-of-66 (45.5 percent) from the field to go along with an 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) performance from beyond the three-point arc. Both marks were below the Purple Raiders’ season averages heading into the game.
Wilmington countered by shooting 25-of-52 (48.1 percent) from the field, but were held to just two threes on 13 tries.
It was a hard fought, physical contest with the teams called for 62 total fouls. Wilmington converted 32 of 38 total chances at the line (good for 84%), while the Raiders were 24 of 31 (77%).
The Quakers took a 45-40 lead at halftime and stretched the lead to 61-53 with just over 13:00 minutes remaining.
Then the Purple Raiders caught fire and chipped away at the deficit as non-starter Chris Palmer ignited the comeback with a trio of three pointers to put Mount Union in front, and the Purple Raiders went on to record the victory.
Mount Union sweeps the season series with Wilmington, having posted an 84-74 victory at Alliance, on Dec. 14.
In the OAC standings, the Purple Raiders are tied with Marietta for first place with 9-1 league records. Overall, Mount Union is 14-3. Wilmington falls to 6-11 overall and 4-6 in the conference.
Prior to the game, several members of the 2010 WC squad, who won the OAC tournament, were recognized.
Members of that team in attendance were Ethan Fite, Brian Latham, Justin Gaines, RJ Brown, Tyler Ledford, Miles Bankston, Brandon Rogers, Keegan Nowlin, Antonio Bowman, Daniel Rogers and Noland Darland.
Next up for the Quakers will be an OAC battle with Ohio Northern 7 p.m.Wednesday at Fred Raizk Arena.
