Box Score MARIETTA, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team was unable to get its offense going in the second half of Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, leading to its 78-55 loss at Marietta College. The Crusaders have now been eliminated from the conference tournament to end the team's season.
Capital kept it close with the nationally-ranked Pioneers through nearly three-quarters of the game. With 12:33 remaining in the game, the score was tied, 43-43, but Marietta found a spark in its offense, igniting a 26-6 run over a 10-minute span of time. The Pioneers outscored the Crusaders 35-12 over the final 12 minutes of game action.
Four of the five Marietta starters ended the game with 10 or more points. The Pioneers, ranked No. 9 in the country and serving as the tournament's top seed, were led by Eddy Grenert's 20 points and 13 rebounds. Only 12 points came from Marietta's bench.
While Capital struggled from the floor over the course of the game, Marietta turned it up in the second half by shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from behind the arc. The Crusaders were unable to match, hitting just 34.5 percent of its second-half shots and were just 1-for-10 from 3-point range.
Curt Geise (Delphos, Ohio) led Capital with 11 points while Ben Danhoff (Clyde, Ohio) closed out his final game with 10 points. Senior Daniel Ocke hit a trio of 3-pointers in his last game to account for his nine points.
Capital closes out the year with an overall record of 8-18 but had arguably been playing its best basketball through the month of February. They won three games in a row, two of those on the road, amidst their string of improvements.
