Crusaders Upset in OAC Tournament Semifinal

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COLUMBUS – The top-seeded Capital University men's basketball team (19-7) fell to No. 4 seed Mount Union (13-14) by a final of 63-59 on Thursday at the Capital Center in an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal contest.

The loss stopped the Crusaders' eight-game winning streak and eliminated the defending OAC Tournament champion from tournament play. Capital will await the results of Monday's NCAA Division III Tournament selection show to see if its season will continue in the 62-team tournament.

Senior forwards Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) scored 21 points and Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio) tallied 15 lead the way for the OAC regular season champion Crusaders.

For the opening 20 minutes of basketball the Crusaders and Purple Raiders fought back and forth for position as neither team was able to build a solid lead early on.

In the opening five minutes of the game, Capital was led by Niekamp, who had 11 of the team's first 13 points out of the gate as he knocked down a couple early 3-point field goals, including the completion of a rare four-point play.

After Capital opened up a six point lead over the Purple Raiders, its largest of the game, Mount Union would end the half on a 20-11 run to take a 30-27 lead as sophomore Stevie Griffin of the Purple Raiders connected on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

The Crusaders struggled to get anything going offensively in the opening period as they shot only 29.6 percent from the field and had just three players in the scoring column. Niekamp and Sommer scored 24 of the team's 27 first-half points.

Starting off the second half, the Crusaders were able to pull back to within one point of the lead before Mount Union was able to eat some clock and expand their lead to thirteen with 7:55 remaining in the contest.

Although the Crusaders would put up a fight for the rest of the game, that one point of separation would be the closest they got to overcoming the Purple Raider lead.

Down the stretch and forced to trade fouls for possessions, Capital cut the deficit to two after a 3-pointer by senior guard Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio) with 12 seconds to play. Mount Union knocked down two free throws with nine seconds to play after the Crusaders were forced to foul. On the ensuing possession, a jumper by freshman guard AJ Dixon (Hilliard, Ohio) was blocked and Capital ran out of time to cut into the four-point deficit.

The Purple Raiders move on to face No. 2 seed Marietta, a 111-106 winner in triple overtime against third-seeded Wilmington, on Saturday in Marietta, Ohio. The winner of that contest will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Niekamp, Sommer, Westerheide and fellow seniors Tim Congrove (Circleville, Ohio) and Damon Dillard (Columbus, Ohio) will possibly end their careers with a 72-37 overall record, a pair of OAC regular season championships, one OAC Tournament title and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.