The Capital University men's basketball team plays its final two road regular season games this week, including one match-up that puts the winner in the driver's seat for the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title.
The Crusaders (15-6 overall, 12-2 OAC) visit Marietta on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in a showdown of the two teams tied atop the conference standings. The winner controls its own destiny for both the league regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the OAC Tournament.
On Saturday, Capital visits cross-town rival Otterbein for a 7:30 p.m. contest. The game wraps up a women's-men's doubleheader in Westerville.
Last week, individual performances by a pair of seniors helped Capital pick up victories at Wilmington (82-64) and at home against John Carroll (82-61).
Against Wilmington on Wednesday, senior wing Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio) posted 31 points and seven rebounds to help the Crusaders overcome an eight-point, second-half deficit. Sommer scored 14 straight points in the midst of a 25-2 Capital run that turned a 51-43 deficit into a 68-53 advantage.
Junior forward Ben Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) added 11 points and six rebounds for the Crusaders, who knocked down 21-of-28 at the free throw line, including 17-of-19 in the second half.
On Saturday, senior forward Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) scored 16 points in the first 5:08 of the contest and finished with 27 points, tying his career high, to lead Capital past John Carroll. Niekamp was a perfect 11-of-11 from the field, including 5-for-5 from 3-point range. The Crusaders scored the first 18 points of the affair and didn't look back, never allowing the margin closer than 12.
Senior guard Tim Congrove (Circleville, Ohio) added 13 points for Capital, which shot a sizzling 58.2 percent from the floor and made 13-of-26 from 3-point range. Freshman guard AJ Dixon (Hilliard, Ohio; above right) contributed with 11 points off the bench.
Marietta (16-5, 12-2) survived two overtimes on Saturday to come away with a 92-89 home triumph over Heidelberg. Four players scored 17 or more points for the Pioneers, including Tyler Worstell, who tallied 22 and knocked down a game tying 3-pointer to force the second overtime with 10 seconds in the first OT.
Marietta boasts the league's No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 79.8 points per game entering the week. The Pioneers surrender 70.6 points per contest, good for fourth in the conference, compared with No. 1 Capital's 64.5 points allowed per affair. Marietta also leads the OAC in field goal percentage (48.3), just ahead of the Crusaders (47.5). Wednesday's game also features the top two 3-point percentage teams in the conference – Capital shoots 41.4 percent from long range, while Marietta sits at 38.8 percent.
J.J. Martin leads the Pioneers and ranks second in the league in scoring (16.8 ppg) and is tied for fifth in rebounding (6.4 rpg).
On Jan. 16, Marietta's Jacob Owens knocked down a fade-away 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Crusaders to a 69-68 defeat at the Capital Center. Four players scored in double figures for Capital, including sophomore forward Andrew Bolka (Xenia, Ohio), who totaled a career-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Otterbein (7-14, 4-10), which handed Marietta one of its two league losses this season, lost its third straight game Saturday by a 93-65 score at Mount Union. Jake Bischoff tallied 14 points to pace the Cardinals, who knocked down 11 three-pointers but allowed the Purple Raiders to shoot 56.9 percent from the field.
Max Van Meter leads Otterbein in scoring with 12.1 points per contest and grabs 6.3 rebounds per game, good for second in the team. Bischoff (11.4 ppg) and Zach Bakenhaster (10.6 ppg) also average double figures in scoring. Bakenhaster ranks fourth in the OAC with 6.8 rebounds per affair. The Cardinals rank 10th in the league in scoring offense (67.1 ppg) and seventh in scoring defense (72.2).
The Crusaders bested Otterbein 100-62 on Jan. 5 at the Capital Center. Congrove scored a career-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting (7-of-10 3FG) to pace Capital, which reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since 2008. The Crusaders shot 58.7 percent as a team and held the Cardinals to 38.3 percent.
