COLUMBUS, Ohio -- On Sunday afternoon, in their return to action after a eight-day break, the Capital University men's basketball team blew their opponent out of the water by a final score of 95-59, marking their largest win since January 18, 2019. On that date, Cap defeated Ohio Northern by a final score of 102-49.
With the confidence boosting win this afternoon, Capital will now head into conference action with a 4-2 record. They will start their OAC slate this Saturday with a 7 p.m. home contest vs. crosstown rivals Otterbein.
CAP'S NUMBERS
The Purple and White did just about everything right and dominated both ends of the floor over the Spartans (1-5). In total, on the offensive side of the ball, Capital outshot Manchester (53.5% to 33.3%) and out-passed the visitors (18 assists to nine).
Defensively, Capital recorded more rebounds (41 to 25), more steals (10 to five), and more blocks (seven to two). Overall, a dominating effort. Cap's 10 offensive boards led to 15 second chance points, and their 10 steals helped lead to nine fast break points.
The team had five players reach double figures in scoring, paced by
Joe Thompson's 15-point effort off the bench. In just 13 minutes of action, Thompson poured in 6-of-11 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from deep.
Next on the team in scoring was
Ryan Suever who ended the game with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a 50% effort from beyond the arc. Suever added three rebounds, an assist, two blocks, and a steal.
Dom Moegerle -- who earned his first collegiate start today -- scored 13 points and also chipped in two boards, an assist and a steal.
Ryan Roth came off the bench to net 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 effort from 3-point range. Rounding out the offensive burst was
Alex Eyink who shot up 10 points.
Helping out defensively,
David Sanford led all players with three steals, while
Griffin Doseck had two steals. The team was led by
Justin Nixon in the blocks category. Doseck made his first appearance of the season, while the freshman, Nixon, had a breakout game. Nixon ended with four points in a career best 12 minutes. He also added four rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and one steal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Capital started the game on a tear, bursting out to an 18-0 lead after just 4:26 had ticked off the clock. The run would eventually prove to be the catalyst in the game as Manchester would fail to take the lead at any point in the game as Cap built it out to as many as 44 in the second half.
Ahead 45-20 with two minutes remaining in the first half, Cap kicked it into overdrive before the halftime intermission.
Ryan Roth dropped in two 3-pointers, and
Joe Thompson and
David Sanford each nailed one from beyond the arc to push Capital to a 30-point advantage at the half, 54-24.
In the second half, jumpers from
Alex Eyink and
Dom Moegerle got Capital going almost immediately. The shots set Capital up for a run that put the team ahead 92-48, their largest lead of the game at 44 points.
Ryan Roth's third and fourth 3-pointers of the game gave Cap their final points and sealed the deal.
THE OPPONENT
Manchester was led in scoring by Ian Snelling who had 11 points. Mitch Mendenhall added 10 points off the bench. Quentez Columbus had a team-best seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
ZACH HOLLINGSWORTH
Prior to tipoff, Capital paid remembrance to 2008 graduate Zach Hollingsworth who passed away in early October. Head coach
Damon Goodwin presented Zach's family with a framed jersey and photo of Zach during his Capital playing days. Several teammates of Zach were in attendance to help pay their respects and to honor Zach's life. Coach Goodwin also announced that moving forward, the team's leadership award will now be known as the Zach Hollingsworth Award, paying tribute to Zach's amazing leadership traits and his ability to be one of the best teammates to ever wear a Capital jersey.
Read more on Zach Hollingsworth here.
UP NEXT
As mentioned, Capital's next game will serve as their conference opener as Otterbein pays a visit to the Capital Center. Tip will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 4th. The Capital women will play Otterbein at home with a 2 p.m. start time prior to the men's game.
