WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team held a slim lead for much of the game at Otterbein University on Saturday night, but a late flurry from the hosts led to an 80-70 result in favor of the Cardinals.
The loss sets Capital back to 2-4 overall on the year, while Otterbein goes to 4-2. Capital will seek to get back on track against the Cardinals in their next meeting on Saturday, January 21st at 7 p.m. at The Capital Center. That game will serve as the annual Battle for the Oar presented by Byers Airport Subaru.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Purple and White started the first half sharply thanks to back-to-back jumpers by
Carter Combs, followed by a three-point-play by
Griffin Doseck to set them off. With the early momentum, the Comets eventually worked a 14-point lead by the 8:02 mark. Senior
Ryan Roth was instrumental in the run with three 3-pointers in the stretch run.
Unfortunately for Capital, that lead would be trimmed and reversed to a two point lead from Otterbein as Brennan Raines hit a pair of free throws.
Thankfully for the Comets, a
McKane Finkenbine 3-ball will under a minute left gave Capital the advantage at the break, 39-38.
Through the second half, both teams traded buckets and stayed within a single score for much of the play until a 70-66 lead by Otterbein with 1:52 left in the game led to a 10-4 run by the hosts to seal off the game 80-70 at the final buzzer.
THE NUMBERS
Carter Combs scored a team-high 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He also led the team in rebounds with a new career-high in that department with nine. Further complementing his performance, he added two assists, a block and a steal.
Ryan Suever had a big game off the bench with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting. He added three boards and an assist.
Ryan Roth also produced off the bench with 11 points and two assists.
Kaleb Crawford contributed nine points, three assists and four rebounds.
Griffin Doseck had four points and eight boards.
Alex Eyink had six rebounds and three assists.
THE OPPONENT
Points - Cam Evans (29)
Rebounds - Evans/Dallas Patrick (7)
Assists - Alex Hannah/Julian Heckman (4)
Blocks - Bryson Lane (1)
Steals - Three players (2)
UP NEXT
Capital will host Muskingum University on Thursday, December 8th at 7 p.m. in the Capital Center.
