By: Jay Garneau

ALLIANCE --  Despite a career-high 13 points from freshman Jordan Martin, the Ohio Northern men's basketball team couldn't overcome an early deficit in a 67-57 loss to Mount Union at The MAAC on Saturday afternoon.

The Polar Bears move to 11-12 overall and 7-9 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Purple Raiders improve to 9-14 overall and 5-11 in the conference.

Martin scored his 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting, while junior Taylor Kuhlman added 11 points and five rebounds to guide ONU.

Mount Union jumped out to a 10-0 advantage right out of the gate, a lead the team never relinquished.

ONU responded with seven straight points to cut the lead to 10-7 at the 13:27 mark.

Leading 14-10 a few minutes later, the Purple Raiders went on a 10-2 spurt to push their lead to 24-12 with 7:26 to play.

An Ohio Northern timeout led to a 9-0 run in which four different Polar Bears scored, cutting the deficit to 24-21 with 3:53 remaining.

Mount Union's Jimmy Wood then hit two straight three-pointers as the Purple raiders rode a 36-27 lead into the break.

A layup from sophomore Dominique Royal and two free throws from senior Logan Conley cut Mount Union's lead to 48-41 with 8:48 to play.

But ONU never got closer than that, as Nate Jacubec scored six points during a 9-1 Mount Union run, extending the margin to 57-42 at the 4:45 mark.

A Kuhlman trey and Martin layup made it 57-47 with 4:03 to play, but Northern was unable to put consecutive baskets together again as Mount Union completed the 67-57 win.

Mount Union held slight advantages in both the shooting and rebounding categories.

The Purple Raiders out-rebounded ONU 31-26 and shot 23-for-46 (50.0 percent) from the field, compared to 21-for-47 (44.7 percent) for Northern.

UMU also shot 9-for-20 (45.0 percent) from long distance, bettering ONU's 5-for-17 (29.4 percent).

Ohio Northern move closer to clinching a spot in the OAC Tournament despite the loss. Currently in sixth place with a 7-9 record, the Polar Bears have a two-game lead over Mount Union, Muskingum and Otterbein.

The Polar Bears would clinch a spot in the 8-team OAC Tournament with one more victory or a loss by either Mount Union, Muskingum or Otterbein.

With a win, ONU would also clinch the No. 6 seed and a first round home game.

Northern will host Wilmington in a 7:30 p.m. game on Wednesday before traveling to Baldwin-Wallace for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday.