MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Hours after receiving votes in the NAIA top 25 coaches' poll for the first time this year, the Goshen College men's basketball team extended its school-record season-opening win streak to nine with a 74-72 victory over Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Tuesday.

Dominique Bolden scored 23 points on eight field goals, four free throws and three 3-pointers, all game highs. Fittingly, the senior played a major role down the stretch for the Maple Leafs, scoring the final eight points and blocking a go-ahead three-point try with three seconds to play.

Mount Vernon Nazarene (4-5, 0-2 Crossroads League) used a six-point spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 17-11 seven minutes after the tip. That was erased by an 11-0 Goshen run over the next five minutes, followed by a 7-0 string later in the half to set the halftime margin at a 12-point Goshen lead.

But the Cougars fought back to take the lead with 4:09 to play in the second half, their first advantage in more than 25 minutes. Five points from Eric Roby allowed MVNU to match its largest lead, six, with 2:43 left.

At that point, in hindsight, the momentum shifted, with the big Mo seemingly donning Bolden's number-33 jersey. Mount Vernon Nazarene would not score again. First Bolden sank a three from the top of the circle to pull Goshen within 72-69. After the teams traded stops, he sank two free throws with 55 seconds left, then hit a field goal with a quarter-minute remaining to give his team the lead.

On the ensuing possession, Bolden blocked a shot from leading MVNU scorer Josh Ashwill and grabbed the rebound; he was fouled. The first free throw put Goshen up 74-72. After a timeout, the second shot rimmed out, but Bolden blocked the first attempt at a game-winning shot on the other end and the second sailed harmlessly wide at the horn.

"I'm extremely proud of how my guys responded tonight after we went from being up 19 to down six," said Goshen head coach Neal Young. "MVNU was on an absolute tear offensively, scored zero points on its last five possessions. That ability to put the previous 10 minutes behind us and focus on getting one stop at a time down the stretch was huge for us."

"We like to say we get buckets by committee and that was true again tonight," Young continued. "Different guys stepped up at different times and the unselfishness of everyone on the floor ensured that the right guy got the right shot more often than not. I thought Conner Funkhouser in particular was big defensively down the stretch. They isolated him a couple times and Conner held his ground each time."

Austin Hayden added a career-high 16 points, all in the first half, for Goshen (9-0, 2-0 CL). Christian Grider also cracked double figures with 10. Eric Roby scored 18 to pace the hosts, while Ashwill, who entered the game averaging a double-double, was limited to nine points but grabbed 13 rebounds.

Mount Vernon Nazarene held a 40-29 edge on the glass. Kevin Phillips led Goshen with eight boards and Bolden added seven. The teams combined to use only 15 players; of the 14 who played 15 minutes or more, every one had a rebound and at least three points.

"On the offensive end, MVNU did a really nice job of taking easy looks away from Trev (Commissaris) and Kev (Phillips)," Young said. Coming off a career-high 28 points in his last outing, Commissaris was held to five Tuesday. "To their credit, they still found open teammates for big buckets multiple times in the second half."

Goshen had assists on 18 of its 27 field goals (66.7 percent), its third-best ratio of the season. Devin Heath-Granger led all players with six dimes, one short of his season average of 7.1. The Maple Leafs swatted seven shots, second-most of the season.

The Maple Leafs will look to start the season 10-0 on Saturday when they face the Cougars of the University of St. Francis. The Cougars were ranked fourth in the NAIA preseason poll before dropping to 19th on Tuesday following a 5-3 start.

"Saturday is going to be a great game," Young said. "In both of the last two years, the game with USF has come down to the last possession. I hope people come out in droves."

Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at Gunden Gymnasium.