MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — Austin Branagan came off the bench to give the Goshen College basketball team 22 points in 28 minutes Saturday, but the Maple Leafs lost 82-68 to NAIA Division II no. 6 Mount Vernon Nazarene University at Ariel Arena.

Branagan sank 9 of his 13 shots and went 3-of-5 from long range, joining Tahj Curry with three triples, while Tanner Camp made his first start of the season. Curry added 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals, leading the Maple Leafs in the latter three categories.

Mount Vernon Nazarene (18-4, 6-4 CL) got 33 points from Jevon Knox, who shot 60 percent (14-of-20) from the floor with four 3-point shots. Austin Jones added 14 points and Jacob Paul had 11 to break the 1,000-point plateau.

MVNU shot 58 percent (33-for-57) from the floor and 37 percent (11-for-30) from the floor, outdoing Goshen (4-18, 0-10) in both categories. Each team finished with 6 offensive rebounds, but the Cougars had more chances on the defensive glass for a 35-27 total rebounding margin.

The Maple Leaf defense registered 6 steals to go with 11 assists while turning the ball over 8 times on offense, but Goshen shot 42 percent overall and 35 percent from distance.

Mount Vernon Nazarene led the game 45-39 at halftime after a pair of 8-0 runs in the first half. Goshen led by as many as 4 points and MVNU led by as many as 12.

The Maple Leafs used a 4-0 run to get back within 2 points a minute into the second half, but that was as close as they would get. Each time Goshen closed within a possession, MVNU scored next to flesh out its lead.

A Branagan bucket made it 65-60 with 7:05 remaining before Jones and Isaac White scored the next 12 points for MVNU to run the lead to double figures. The 12-4 run gave MVNU its largest lead thus far at 13 points before Knox scored in the final seconds to make it 14.

Goshen faces a traditional rival Wednesday night in a doubleheader at Gunden Gymnasium. Grace College makes the 26-mile trip from Winona Lake to meet the Maple Leafs at 8 p.m. following the women's game at 6.