BEREA, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team was back in action on Saturday for their typical Saturday afternoon OAC affair, traveling to face the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets on this particular occasion. To say the teams were fairly evenly matched is an understatement. Both squads entered the day with identical overall records at 7-7 and identical OAC records at 3-4. However, in the end, it was Capital with the slight separation, hanging on to drop the Yellow Jackets 58-56.
Capital moves ahead of .500 to 8-7 on the year and back to .500 in conference play at 4-4.
Baldwin Wallace drops to 7-8 on the year and 3-5 in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
As said before, there has been little difference between the two squads all season, and the first half reflected that. It was back-and-forth for the bulk of the period with the teams trading a very slim lead. It wasn't until late in the half that Capital began to gain momentum. The Comets grasped the lead with around 3:30 left and would not relinquish it for the remainder of the first, building it to a six point margin in the meantime. As the teams headed to the locker rooms, Cap held the advantage, 40-34.
The Comets continued their momentum in the second half, keeping a steady lead for the majority of the period which even swelled to 10 points around the midway mark. However, slow shooting in the "fourth quarter" of the game allowed Baldwin Wallace to inch back into the game, with the final two minutes being played with only one point separating the teams. It all came down to a critical last 39 seconds for the Comets.
With 0:39 left in the second half BW had scored a contested layup to go up by one – their first lead since the 4:11 mark in the first half – with the possibility of giving Cap a two point deficit as the play resulted in a Capital foul. Things bounced Capital's way as the free throw would fall off the rim and into the hands of
Dom Moegerle to bring the ball the other way. Down by one, freshman McKane scored a hoop-and-harm of his own, hitting a layup and taking a foul as well with just 18 seconds left. Finkenbine then found the bottom of the net on the free throw and put Capital up by two.
The final 18 seconds were defined by Capital's defense, which kept BW from finding a clean look and forced them into some tough desperation shots, all of which were off the mark. With the Comets grabbing the final rebound, Capital was able to play keep-away for the remainder of the game and the buzzer sounded with the scoreboard favoring the men from Columbus, 58-56.
THE NUMBERS
Kaleb Crawford led the Comets on the scoring end, netting 15 points, along with one rebound, one assist, and being one of three players with a block.
Griffin Doseck followed Crawford up with 12 points, also securing five rebounds and dropping a team-high three assists.
Ryan Suever had a solid game with 11 points, four rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal.
Dom Moegerle led the team on the boards and in swiping the ball, grabbing six rebounds and three steals. He also had two points and one assist.
UP NEXT
The Comets will continue their road trip on Wednesday, January 18, playing visitor to Marietta College. It will be a typical 7 p.m. tip as Capital looks to grab another OAC win against the Pioneers.
