GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team traveled out east to the campus of Denison University for a big time season opener against the Big Red. Forty minutes would not be enough time to settle the titanic struggle as a single five-minute overtime period was needed to decide a winner. In the end, the Comets wound up on top, edging out Denison by a final score of 83-82.
Capital starts the season in the win column, 1-0.
Dension drops to 2-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was fairly back-and-forth with Denison finding a slight advantage in the first ten minutes. The Big Red held their largest lead of nine points, 17-8, at the 13:16 mark. It was then that the Comets started to settle in and work towards downsizing the deficit. Led by
Kaleb Crawford, the Purple and White were able to work all the way back and take the lead, turning the game completely on its head. Nearing the seven-minute mark of the first half, the Comets really started to take control, grabbing an eight-point lead and not wavering when the opposition struck back. At the half, Capital remained ahead by eight, 41-33.
In the second half, Capital found themselves ahead by as many as 12 points, but a furious Big Red rally slowly chipped away at the lead. Eventually, Denison tied it up at 63-63 with 6:59 remaining. With the tied score, both teams went cold for more than two minutes and eventually kicked off a back-and-forth battle as both teams vied for the lead. Eventually, a layup from Ricky Radtke tied the game at 74 and sent it to overtime.
The competition continued to reach a standstill in the overtime period, the teams trading points once again. The largest lead taken by either team was a tiny two points. At the halfway point of the period, the Big Red lay ahead with a lead of that size. Things swung the other way a minute later after
Joe Thompson tallied a three to put the Purple and White up one, 81-80. The game was set up for an exciting finish, aided by a response from Radtke that put Denison back in the lead with 0:21 on the clock. However, on the other end of the floor, CU struck back with a two-footer from Thompson to give the Comets another narrow 83-82. Two timeouts later, everything came down to the defensive end for Cap who forced a contested layup that slammed off the backboard and away from the hoop to give Capital the 83-82 win.
THE NUMBERS
Capital put up the rock very efficiently by knocking down 55.9% (33-for-59) of their shots, which included a blistering 52.4%(11-for-21) from beyond the arc.
The team efficiency effort was led by a 100% effort by
Joe Thompson (6-for-6). Thompson's mark is the fourth time a Capital player has finished a game with a 100% mark and the first time since Spencer Niekamp went 11-for-11 on February 2, 2013. He finished with 15 points, three assists, and a steal.
Carter Combs led the team in scoring with 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He added two assists as well.
Kaleb Crawford put up 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting the ball. He added seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Griffin Doseck finished with nine points, five boards, four assists, a block and a steal.
Ryan Suever added eight points and five boards off the bench.
THE OPPONENT
Points - Will Hunter (21)
Assists - Will Hunter (4)
Rebounds - Ricky Radtke (8)
Blocks - Emmett Burnside (1)
Stelas - Scotty Dean (2)
UP NEXT
The Comets will keep their season going as they open their home schedule with a 1:30 p.m. tip on Saturday, November 19th at The Capital Center. The Battle of the Comets will also serve as an opportunity to recognize the 1973 team during the game on their 50th anniversary.
