ALLIANCE, Ohio — They are dancing once again in Stark County.
Mount Union easily handled Marietta 95-80 Saturday afternoon to win the Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament. The Purple Raiders (25-2) are now officially headed to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third consecutive time.
Currently ranked fifth in the country, Mount shared the regular season conference title with John Carroll and boasts one of the deepest rosters in the league, including GlenOak grad and OAC Player of the Year Christian Parker (17.9 points, 8.0 rebounds per game) and Defensive Player of the Year Darrell Newsom from Twinsburg. On this day, Parker once again led the way with 31 points and 12 boards, while Newsome and Jeffrey Mansfield each scored 19.
Marietta (17-11), which had upset top-seeded JCU in Thursday's semifinals, trailed by 19 at the break and never threatened in the second half. Cooper Parrott led the Pioneers with 21 points along with seven rebounds.
With its first OAC Tournament win in three years now in the books, Mike Fuline's Mount Union squad will wait to see where it lands in the unseeded 64-team bracket on Monday. Due to their overall success, it seems highly likely the Raiders will host the first and second rounds at the McPherson complex next month.