The Capital University men's basketball team captured its fifth straight victory Wednesday night, playing efficiently on both ends of the floor in a 73-69 win at Ohio Northern in Ohio Athletic Conference action at Ada, Ohio.
The Crusaders (10-6 overall, 7-2 OAC) remain tied for first place in the conference standings heading into this Saturday's showdown against John Carroll, the team they are knotted with at the top.
"We made some plays and hit free throws late in the game," Capital coach Damon Goodwin said. "When you make 20 turnovers and give up 13 offensive rebounds, those numbers usually add up to a bad result … but we made plays. We have to be solid with the ball (against John Carroll) and not give them 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 opportunities going the other way."
Junior Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio; at right) posted a team-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds for Capital, which shot 60.5 percent from the field and shot 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the free throw line. The Crusaders allowed the Polar Bears (8-8, 4-5) to shoot just
39.1 percent from the field for the contest while knocking down 6-of-6 from the free throw line over the final 35 seconds to hold off ONU.
Senior Kelly Winter (Dublin, Ohio) continued his strong leadership in the backcourt, flirting with a triple-double in a 12-point, 13-rebound, eight-assist performance. Junior Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) added 12 points and five rebounds.
"They were playing physical, man-to-man defense, so we tried to take advantage of their overplays in the half court," Winter said. "We also pushed it in transition and got some lay-ups and open 3-pointers out of that. I tried to be aggressive and either find teammates or take it to the basket."
Neither team led by a sizeable margin in a back-and-forth first half. Capital took a 36-30 advantage with 1:44 left before the Polar Bears closed the half with four straight to trail by two heading into the locker room. The Crusaders shot 60.9 percent and held Ohio Northern to 35.5 percent shooting in the period, but were hamstrung by nine turnovers.
The Polar Bears took control of the game nearly midway through the second, taking a 51-45 advantage with 11:50 to play. Capital responded with a 14-2 run to take control of the game at 59-53 following a Niekamp jumper with 7:41 on the clock.
Senior Tyler Munro (Lexington, Ohio) gave the Crusaders a 64-57 lead on a 3-pointer with 4:54 to play. Neither team scored again until the 1:58 mark, when junior Ben Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) made it a nine-point lead for Capital off a feed from Winter on a side out-of-bounds play with time running down on the shot clock.
Ohio Northern would get as close as five points before knocking down a 3-pointer in the waning moments for the final margin.
Saturday's battle for first place against John Carroll is slated for 2 p.m. at the Capital Center.
