COLUMBUS – The Capital University men's basketball team survived a furious second-half rally Saturday, holding on to defeat Baldwin-Wallace 75-69 in an Ohio Athletic Conference showdown at the Capital Center.
The Crusaders won a physical, fast-paced battle, shooting 29-of-38 from the free throw line compared to 21-of-31 for the Yellow Jackets (8-5 overall, 3-3 OAC). The two teams combined for 53 fouls in the contest and didn't give an inch on either end of the floor.
Junior Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) paced Capital (7-6, 4-2) with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, while senior Kelly Winter (Dublin, Ohio) added 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds while converting 10-of-12 from the free throw line.
"We just battled inside," said senior Tyler Munro (at right), who finished with eight points off the bench. "Baldwin-Wallace is a good team, they've got a lot of strong guys. Just being able to battle in there with our big guys was really important. There were a lot of fouls called … but I thought we handled it well and made a lot of free throws to go along with some clutch shots."
The Crusaders jumped out to a 39-26 lead through the first 20 minutes and held a double-digit lead for the first five minutes of the second half before Baldwin-Wallace, fueled by an aggressive defense and efficient offense, engineered a 14-4 run to tie the game at 49-49.
"We knew Baldwin-Wallace would make runs, and we knew we had to limit those," Munro said. "I thought we did a good job of not giving up the lead. We just kept fighting through it and made some big shots down the stretch."
Capital, which never trailed in the game, responded with four straight points and pushed its advantage to seven on a 3-pointer by Niekamp with 5:44 to play. Munro (Lexington, Ohio) all but sealed the victory with a big 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to give the Crusaders a 66-56 lead with 1:51 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets continued to fight, but Capital knocked down 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:10 to hold off B-W.
In the first half, the Crusaders shot 62.5 percent and held Baldwin-Wallace to just 30.0 percent from the field. Capital took a 27-15 advantage at the 8:26 mark after a jumper by Niekamp, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout.
"We try and work from the inside out," Munro said. "We did that from the get-go, starting with the first offensive possession with Ben Danhoff's 3-point play, which was huge and set the tone for the rest of the game."
Junior Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio) added 10 points and a team-best four assists for the Crusaders, who outscored Baldwin-Wallace 34-20 in the paint. The Yellow Jackets held a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points.
Capital resumes conference play this Wednesday against defending OAC champion Marietta. Tip-off at the Capital Center is slated for 7 p.m.
The Crusaders defeated the Pioneers , who reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, twice last season. Players and coaches know they'll see a hungry Marietta team in mere days.
"We need to play just like we did today," Munro said. "They've got a lot of big, strong guys like Baldwin-Wallace does. We beat them twice last year, so they'll be coming for us."
The Crusaders won a physical, fast-paced battle, shooting 29-of-38 from the free throw line compared to 21-of-31 for the Yellow Jackets (8-5 overall, 3-3 OAC). The two teams combined for 53 fouls in the contest and didn't give an inch on either end of the floor.
Junior Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) paced Capital (7-6, 4-2) with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, while senior Kelly Winter (Dublin, Ohio) added 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds while converting 10-of-12 from the free throw line.
"We just battled inside," said senior Tyler Munro (at right), who finished with eight points off the bench. "Baldwin-Wallace is a good team, they've got a lot of strong guys. Just being able to battle in there with our big guys was really important. There were a lot of fouls called … but I thought we handled it well and made a lot of free throws to go along with some clutch shots."
The Crusaders jumped out to a 39-26 lead through the first 20 minutes and held a double-digit lead for the first five minutes of the second half before Baldwin-Wallace, fueled by an aggressive defense and efficient offense, engineered a 14-4 run to tie the game at 49-49.
"We knew Baldwin-Wallace would make runs, and we knew we had to limit those," Munro said. "I thought we did a good job of not giving up the lead. We just kept fighting through it and made some big shots down the stretch."
Capital, which never trailed in the game, responded with four straight points and pushed its advantage to seven on a 3-pointer by Niekamp with 5:44 to play. Munro (Lexington, Ohio) all but sealed the victory with a big 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to give the Crusaders a 66-56 lead with 1:51 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets continued to fight, but Capital knocked down 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:10 to hold off B-W.
In the first half, the Crusaders shot 62.5 percent and held Baldwin-Wallace to just 30.0 percent from the field. Capital took a 27-15 advantage at the 8:26 mark after a jumper by Niekamp, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout.
"We try and work from the inside out," Munro said. "We did that from the get-go, starting with the first offensive possession with Ben Danhoff's 3-point play, which was huge and set the tone for the rest of the game."
Junior Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio) added 10 points and a team-best four assists for the Crusaders, who outscored Baldwin-Wallace 34-20 in the paint. The Yellow Jackets held a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points.
Capital resumes conference play this Wednesday against defending OAC champion Marietta. Tip-off at the Capital Center is slated for 7 p.m.
The Crusaders defeated the Pioneers , who reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, twice last season. Players and coaches know they'll see a hungry Marietta team in mere days.
"We need to play just like we did today," Munro said. "They've got a lot of big, strong guys like Baldwin-Wallace does. We beat them twice last year, so they'll be coming for us."
