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Box Score

The Capital University men's basketball team won its ninth consecutive contest Saturday with a 69-64 victory at Ohio Northern in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Ada, Ohio.

The Crusaders (11-4 overall, 8-0 OAC), who remain alone in first place in the conference, raced to a double-digit halftime lead and held on in the second, knocking down 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 33 second to hang on for the victory.

Senior forward Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) and senior guard Tim Congrove (Circleville, Ohio) each scored a game-high 17 points to lead Capital. Junior forward Jared Cashen (Norwalk, Ohio; above) added 10 points, while senior wing Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio) contributed with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds off the bench.

The Crusaders hit six 3-pointers in the opening half and held the Polar Bears (7-8, 3-5) to 37.9 percent shooting in the period. The two teams played evenly through the first 10 minutes of the contest before Capital posted a 17-4 run to take a 32-19 advantage with 4:34 on the clock. The Crusaders maintained the lead and held a 42-26 margin heading into the locker room.

After Capital extended its lead to 19 with 13:57 to play in the second, Ohio Northern slowly crawled back into the affair, finally cutting its deficit to 60-58 with 1:41 to play. The Polar Bears trailed by two again with 24 seconds to play before Congrove knocked down a pair of free throws and the Crusaders registered a defensive stop at the other end.

Congrove later iced the game with a pair of free throws, turning a 67-64 advantage into a five-point lead with five seconds remaining.

Capital shot 48.1 percent from the field for the game while holding Ohio Northern to 43.9 percent shooting. The Crusaders' bench outscored the Polar Bears' reserved by a 25-13 margin.

Capital hosts second-place Marietta in a showdown for first place in the OAC this Wednesday at the Capital Center. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.