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NEW CONCORD, Ohio – The situation looked grim for Capital Men's Basketball near the midway point of the second half in Saturday evening's game at Muskingum University. Despite this, the Crusaders continued to battle with the Muskies in the Anne C. Steele Center, erased the deficit and saw first-year Keandre Graves make a clutch play in the last second of the game, leading Capital to a 73-72 come-from-behind victory over host Muskingum.

A GRAVES SITUATION

• Muskingum increased its double-digit lead to a comfortable 17-point margin with 13:16 remaining in the second half. In just over four minutes, Capital erased that deficit to two.
• With the aid of two Muskingum turnovers in combination with transition three-pointers by freshman Carter Combs and sophomore Trey Meister, Capital's offense flipped the direction of the game. Combs came back and hit a jumper in the lane to trim the Musky lead to 61-59 with 9:11 to go.
• Muskingum held the lead down to the wire but never by more than four points during that stretch.
• Muskingum held a two-point lead with 34 seconds on the clock and had a chance to run it down with minimal time remaining for Cap to make a run at the game-tying bucket. Trey Singleton hoisted a deep jumper with nearly 10 seconds remaining, which missed the mark and senior Cameron Caldwell came down with the rebound.
• Caldwell drove down the court, kicked out a pass to senior Joe Hartman, who fed sophomore transfer Keandre Graves wide open under the bucket. Trey Singleton slid over to contest the layup but made contact as the ball went up and through, prompting a whistle and the scoreboard to read 72-72 with 0.3 seconds on the clock.
• Graves was awarded one extra free throw as a result of the foul. His shot swished through the net, gave Capital the lead and Muskingum less than a glimmer of hope to regain the advantage. Following a timeout, Capital touched up the long inbound pass, ending the game.

WATCH THE GAME-WINNING SHOT!
FIRST HALF HOLE

• Capital's Joe Hartmann scored the first bucket of the game, but Muskingum responded with 12 unanswered points to take its first double-digit lead of the half. The run was fueled by a pair of CU turnovers and included two Musky three-pointers.
• Hartmann broke up the Musky run by connecting on a floater in the lane, but that was answered by an M.J. Smith triple on the other side, his second in consecutive possessions.
• The Crusaders fought back to come to within two possessions of the Muskies, 28-24, but the hosts regained a 10-plus point lead just three minutes later.
• Capital was marred by six untimely first-half turnovers which led to 14 Muskingum points.
• Muskingum took a 43-32 lead into the half and held a double-digital lead until 10:56, where the action picked up in Capital's favor.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Freshman Carter Combs (Cincinnati, Ohio / Lakota West) led all scorers with 21 points off of the bench in 29 minutes of play. He went 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the arc, plus added three assists and one block.
• Keandre Graves (Cleveland, Ohio / Garfield Heights / Central State), who hit the game-winning shot, wrapped up the night with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
• Senior Joe Hartman (Cincinnati, Ohio / LaSalle) recorded his first double-double of the year behind 15 points and 10 rebounds.
• M.J. Smith once again led the Muskies with 19 points and was one of three players to score 10 or more for the hosts. Alex Masinelli tallied 16 points and seven rebounds.

WHAT IS NEXT?
Capital (1-1) will look to build on the momentum in next weekend's series that is scheduled with Heidelberg University. The Berg won its season opener against John Carroll University, 69-53, in University Heights but was unable to complete the series after game two was canceled due to COVID-19 protocol being initiated within the JCU program. Capital will play in Tiffin on Friday night Jan. 29) at 7 p.m. before finishing the set at The Capital Center on Saturday, January 30, with a 6 p.m. tipoff.