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Michael Sommer's Game-Winning 3-Pointer

The Capital University men's basketball team (5-4, 3-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) defeated the visiting Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace (3-4, 0-2 OAC) on Saturday 64-63 behind senior forward Michael Sommer's buzzer-beating 3-pointer off a full court pass from the opposite baseline.

Senior forward Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) led the Crusaders with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists in what was a very close game in the second half. With 5:20 to play in the contest, Niekamp became the 31st player in program history to reach 1,000 career points on a cutting lay-in off a pass from senior guard Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio).

Sommer (at right) finished the game with 11 points and four rebounds, while Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, FL) chipped in with 13 points and four assists for Capital, which finished the game at 51 percent shooting from the field.

Early on in the first period, the Crusaders jumped out to a 7-1 lead over the Yellow Jackets and carried the momentum into halftime where they led 25-21.

Much of Capital's success in the first half could be attributed to their defense, which limited the Baldwin Wallace offense to 25 percent shooting (8-for-32) from the floor in the opening period.

Opening up the second half of action, Baldwin Wallace came out on the comeback trail, connecting on six of their first eight shot attempts to take a 40-38 edge over the Crusaders with 11:20 remaining in the game.

Down by two, Niekamp found Westerheide to answer right back and knot things up at 40 on Capital's very next possession.

After Capital managed to open up a seven-point lead behind a pair of free-throw makes by Niekamp, the Yellow Jackets made a game out of it as they stormed back to tie it late at 58-58 with 1:56 remaining.

Under a minute to play in the game and down by two, Westerheide found senior guard Tim Congrove (Circleville, Ohio) for an open 3-pointer to give the Crusaders a 61-60 lead.

Out of a timeout, the Yellow Jackets' Kevin Krowniak connected on a running floater to give Baldwin Wallace a one point advantage with only six seconds left in the game.

After the made bucket, the Yellow Jackets stole the inbound pass, forcing the Crusaders to immediately foul and send Baldwin Wallace to the line where they would extend their lead to 63-61 with 3 seconds remaining.

Down by two and in need of a miracle, Westerheide threw a full-court pass to Sommer, who came up with the ball following a deflection and calmly drained the game-winner with a defender in his face.

The unbelievable shot by Sommer would give the Crusaders the victory and send the crowd into pandemonium.

Coming into Saturday's game, Niekamp needed only 11 points to hit the 1,000-point threshold for his career. After scoring only three in the opening half, Niekamp had an 11-point second half to finish the game and help his Crusader teammates to victory.

Capital returns to action on Dec. 15, when it travels to University Heights, Ohio, to take on the Blue Streaks of John Carroll.