WILMINGTON, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team was unable to find rhythm on either end of the court on Wednesday evening in the first game of the 2014 portion of their schedule, falling 67-51 at Wilmington in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup.

Playing in their first game in 21 days, the Crusaders (4-7 overall, 1-3 OAC) found their stride toward the end of the opening half of play.

An early 15-11 lead for Capital turned into a 15 point mark that would stay that way for over seven minutes, as the Crusaders hit a scoring drought at the 14:30 minute mark which lasted until sophomore guard AJ Dixon (Hilliard, Ohio) netted a corner three to restart the team's offense.

Capital then ended the half on an 18-8 run, cutting Wilmington's lead to just one point, 34-33, heading into halftime.

As the second half of play unfolded, a few lapses on defense by the Crusaders allowed for the Quakers to steadily regain momentum, as Wilmington eventually increased its lead to as many as 18 points in the second frame.

The Crusaders managed to chip away at the Quakers lead, cutting the deficit inside of 10 points multiple times, but to no avail, as turnovers and lack of offensive production led to a 16 point defeat.

Leading the way for the Crusaders was junior forward Andrew Bolka (Xenia, Ohio), who scored 13 points and hauled in eight rebounds, while Dixon stalled at his first half team-high of 12 points for the game.

Junior's, in guard Mike Augustine (Lexington, Ohio) and forward Ben Danhoff (Clyde, Ohio), each tallied seven points on the night.

In total, the Crusaders posted a 34.6 percent shooting mark, while the Quakers finished with a 53.2 percent mark from the field.

Also, Capital recorded a dismal 3-19 mark from behind the arc, but capitalized on 12-19 shots from the foul line.

With the loss, Capital is now set to travel to Otterbein this coming Saturday, for the first of two meetings between the two cross-town rivals.  

Tip-off for that game is slated for 7:30 p.m.