Baldwin-Wallace wins OAC Championship after defeat of Mount Union - Feb 23, 2019

The fifth-seeded Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team secures their first Ohio Athletic Conference Championship since 2006, with road victory over two-seeded University of Mount Union by a score of 79-75, inside the McPherson Academic and Athletic Center.
BW (20-8), who is now is now 11-3 against Mount Union in the post-season, was led by senior two-time All-OAC and two-time Academic All-OAC guard Jay Battle (6'2''-G) (Gahanna/Lincoln), who marked a game and career-high 33 points with two rebounds and two assists. Battle was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, and alongside him was junior forward Tyler Colombo (6'6''-F) (Strasburg/Tuscarawas Central Catholic), who was part of the All-Tournament team. Colombo recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds while senior guard Kyle Nader (6'3''-G) (Vermilion) pitched in 11 with six rebounds, two assists and one steal. Sophomore guard Luke Schaefer (6'2''-G) (Medina) poured in 10 points and four steals.
The Purple Raiders (22-6) had four players in double-figures, led by senior Diallo Niamke (6'5''-F) who tallied 21 points. Junior guard D'Vontay Friga (6'2''-G) chipped in with 18 while junior guard Nathan Bower-Malone (5'10''-PG) recorded 11 and senior guard Tommy Stenger (6'3''-G) had 10.
Mount Union was first on the board with a layup from Friga and BW quickly responded with a Schaefer three on its next possession at 19:29. Battle drilled a trey at 17:54 to extend the Yellow Jacket lead to 6-2 and the Purple Raiders went on an 8-0 run to bring the score to 10-6 with 15:39 left in the first. BW regained the lead of 11-10 off a Battle jump shot at 14:38, before the teams would knot things up at 13-13. Over the next five minutes, BW increased their lead to 25-19 after a 12-6 run, capped off with a Schaefer layup. Mount Union trim the lead to 30-29 at 3:54 with a 10-5 spurt, before BW closed the half on an 8-5 run of its own and went into halftime with a 38-35 advantage.
The Purple Raiders took a lead of 48-41 after a 13-3 run to open the second half, capped off with a Bower-Malone jumper at 16:20. The Yellow Jackets battled back with a 14-6 run of their own to take a 55-54 lead at 12:31, after a layup from junior Academic All-OAC guard Michael Quiring (5'9''-PG) (Brunswick). Mount Union retaliated by trading baskets with BW, slowly trimming the lead and tying the game up at 63 apiece with just over seven minutes left in regulation. The Purple Raiders grabbed a 65-63 advantage after two Bower-Malone free throws, before the Yellow Jackets responded with a 7-0 spurt to give them a 70-65 lead at 5:22. The Purple Raiders immediately called a timeout 5:22, and scored with a Niamke layup on their next possession. Nearly two-thirty would pass before a Stenger trey knotted the game up at 70-70. Mount Union took the lead on a free-throw before Schaefer drove and scored on a layup, assisted by Battle, bringing the score to 72-71. The final minutes came down to free-throws as BW knocked down five of their last eight to seal the 79-75 championship victory.

Courtesy of oac.org

OAC Tournament Final: Baldwin Wallace - Mount Union 79-75
OAC Tournament Semifinals:
Mount Union - John Carroll 94-84
Baldwin Wallace - Capital 81-67