COLUMBUS – The Capital University men's basketball team won its third straight Ohio Athletic Conference game Wednesday night, grinding out an 82-66 victory against Marietta at the Capital Center.
The Crusaders (8-6 overall, 5-2 OAC) combined an efficient offense, which shot 54.9 percent from the field and 9-of-15 from 3-point range, with a hard-nosed defense to defeat the defending league champion Pioneers for a fourth straight time over three seasons.
Capital surrendered an early double-digit lead and eventually trailed at the half, but outscored Marietta (9-5, 4-3) by a 45-26 margin in the second period.
"We told our guys at halftime that they're too good of a team to give anything," Capital assistant coach Cort Hamilton said. "We thought we were putting our defense in a tough situation by having some bad turnovers offensively that kind of got their momentum going."
Senior Kelly Winter (Dublin, Ohio; at right) led Capital with an air-tight 22 points, five rebounds and four assists, converting 9-for-15 from the floor making zero turnovers.
Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) recorded 11 points and seven rebounds, while juniors Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio) and Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio) posted 14 and 12 points, respectively.
"We just got into our offense and worked it around, and there are five guys (on the floor) who can do anything at any time," Niekamp said.
The two teams combined for 43 fouls in a fast-paced, physical contest. Marietta shot 19-of-22 from the free throw line, while the Crusaders shot 17-of-28 at the stripe.
"We've really started competing in practice a little bit better," Hamilton said. "We're trying to instill the fact that you don't just turn it off and on, and that you have to bring that mentality every day. I thing our team is starting to understand that you have to make people work for what they get."
Capital held Marietta to just 40.4 percent shooting from the floor, including a 32.0 percent clip in the second half after the Pioneers entered the half with a 40-37 advantage thanks to a 21-4 blitz to end the first 20 minutes of play.
The Crusaders jumped out to a 33-19 lead through the first before Marietta made its run to take the lead.
The Pioneers extended their lead on their first offensive possession of the second half, but a 16-4 spurt, capped by a 3-point play from junior Ben Jackson (Columbus, Ohio), gave Capital a 53-46 lead with 14:00 on the clock.
From there, Marietta would get no closer than four as the Crusaders locked down on the defensive end and made a number of key shots down the stretch.
"(Marietta) has a few really good shooters, so we constantly had to keep an eye on them," Niekamp said. "We knew if we could flatten out the rest of the guys and contain penetration and their big guys, we would be OK."
Westerheide scored all 12 of his points in the second and knocked down a huge 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to put Capital ahead 76-63 with just over three minutes to play.
Jackson registered seven points and a team-best nine rebounds off the bench.
The Crusaders continue OAC play this Saturday at Muskingum. Tip-off in New Concord, Ohio, is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Crusaders (8-6 overall, 5-2 OAC) combined an efficient offense, which shot 54.9 percent from the field and 9-of-15 from 3-point range, with a hard-nosed defense to defeat the defending league champion Pioneers for a fourth straight time over three seasons.
Capital surrendered an early double-digit lead and eventually trailed at the half, but outscored Marietta (9-5, 4-3) by a 45-26 margin in the second period.
"We told our guys at halftime that they're too good of a team to give anything," Capital assistant coach Cort Hamilton said. "We thought we were putting our defense in a tough situation by having some bad turnovers offensively that kind of got their momentum going."
Senior Kelly Winter (Dublin, Ohio; at right) led Capital with an air-tight 22 points, five rebounds and four assists, converting 9-for-15 from the floor making zero turnovers.
Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) recorded 11 points and seven rebounds, while juniors Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio) and Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio) posted 14 and 12 points, respectively.
"We just got into our offense and worked it around, and there are five guys (on the floor) who can do anything at any time," Niekamp said.
The two teams combined for 43 fouls in a fast-paced, physical contest. Marietta shot 19-of-22 from the free throw line, while the Crusaders shot 17-of-28 at the stripe.
"We've really started competing in practice a little bit better," Hamilton said. "We're trying to instill the fact that you don't just turn it off and on, and that you have to bring that mentality every day. I thing our team is starting to understand that you have to make people work for what they get."
Capital held Marietta to just 40.4 percent shooting from the floor, including a 32.0 percent clip in the second half after the Pioneers entered the half with a 40-37 advantage thanks to a 21-4 blitz to end the first 20 minutes of play.
The Crusaders jumped out to a 33-19 lead through the first before Marietta made its run to take the lead.
The Pioneers extended their lead on their first offensive possession of the second half, but a 16-4 spurt, capped by a 3-point play from junior Ben Jackson (Columbus, Ohio), gave Capital a 53-46 lead with 14:00 on the clock.
From there, Marietta would get no closer than four as the Crusaders locked down on the defensive end and made a number of key shots down the stretch.
"(Marietta) has a few really good shooters, so we constantly had to keep an eye on them," Niekamp said. "We knew if we could flatten out the rest of the guys and contain penetration and their big guys, we would be OK."
Westerheide scored all 12 of his points in the second and knocked down a huge 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to put Capital ahead 76-63 with just over three minutes to play.
Jackson registered seven points and a team-best nine rebounds off the bench.
The Crusaders continue OAC play this Saturday at Muskingum. Tip-off in New Concord, Ohio, is scheduled for 3 p.m.
