By Caleb Scott

ALLIANCE — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon with a 77-70 loss at Mount Union at the MAAC Center.

The Polar Bears drop to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference, while Mount Union improves to 3-2, 2-0.

Senior Lucas Pennington hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Polar Bears on the day.

Sophomore Konnor Baker added a spark off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing three rebounds. 

Cody Dillon led Mount Union with 14 points and five rebounds. 

ONU opened up its biggest lead of the first half as freshman Travis Feitshans nailed a three pointer to give the Polar Bears a 24-15 lead with 9:41 remaining in the half. 

Mount Union would go on a 10-4 run from there to close the gap to 28-25 with 5:11 remaining in the first half. 

Mount Union made a layup with three seconds left in the half to knot that score at 36-all heading into the break.

After exchanging leads throughout the second half, Mount Union would go on a 7-0 run and extended their lead to 59-52 with 6:56 remaining in the game.

After Mount Union pushed their lead to 68-58, the Polar Bears would go on a quick 8-0 run following a three point field goal from sophomore Devon Allen to close the gap at 68-66.

This is the closest Northern would come the rest of the contest, as Mount Union would hold on to win the game.

Mount Union won the rebounding battle 38-27.

The Polar Bears will return to the court Wednesday as they travel to John Carroll for a 7:30 pm start.