DELAWARE, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team extended their record on the season to an unbeaten 6-0 after flipping a four-point halftime deficit into a three-point win on the road at Ohio Wesleyan this evening.
The 6-0 record for the Comets extends their best start to a season since the 2008-09 season – a year in which they also started 6-0 overall.
Ohio Wesleyan dropped back to 1-4 overall to start the year.
In the early going, neither team scored particularly well as the score read just 11-10 in favor of Capital after nearly eight minutes of play. Soon after, a 3-pointer from OWU's Jessee Battle put the Bishops in front, a lead they would carry through the remainder of the half and into a portion of the second half.
Out of the halftime break, freshman
Baden Forup was the go-to man for the Comets as he scored Capital's first 10 points of the half, bringing them within three in just over five minutes. The spur of momentum from Forup's hot start to the half brought in his fellow teammates as the half continued.
Carter Combs splashed home a valuable 3-pointer with a hand in his face soon after that made it 54-51, OWU. After Combs' bucket, a quick four points from
Dom Moegerle gave Capital their first lead since the 12:38 mark of the first half.
As Cap tried to put some breathing room between the two sides, OWU failed to go away, eventually making the game a one-point difference at 74-73. However, a clutch 3-pointer by
Carter Combs with 56 seconds left in the game, gave Cap a crucial advantage that they were able to hang onto with a pair of layups from
Baden Forup and
Nate Gerber to seal the deal.
THE NUMBERS
Freshman
Baden Forup poured in a career-high 20 points, 18 of which were scored in the second half alone. His scoring came on a 9-for-12 showing from the floor in just 22 minutes of action. He added six rebounds, two assists and a steal to his total.
McKane Finkenbine also scored a career-high in points, thanks to an 18-point effort. He went 5-for-12 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. He added three rebounds, and three assists to his night.
Carter Combs scored 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting – all of which came from 3-point range. He added three rebounds, two assists and a block to his showing.
Off the bench,
Justin Nixon and
Nate Gerber also scored double-digits. Nixon finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Gerber ended with 10 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Others to score points included
Dom Moegerle (4),
Alex Eyink (2),
Ryan Suever (2), and
Luke Kuhlman (2).
A HISTORIC COACHING BATTLE
Entering tonight's head-to-head contest, both head coaches – Capital's
Damon Goodwin and OWU's Mike DeWitt – carried 437 career wins in their lengthy tenures. Goodwin amassed his total in 29 seasons at the helm of the Capital program, while DeWitt's have been combined between short stints at Hiram and Centre Colleges as well as 25 years at Ohio Wesleyan. With the win tonight, Coach Goodwin now moves ahead of his central Ohio counterpart holding 438 career wins to this point.
UP NEXT
Capital will stay out on the road as they travel to No. 13 ranked Case Western Reserve University on Wednesday, November 29th. The contest will be the Comets' final non-conference test of the year as the remaining games will all be within the OAC, starting with a rivalry match-up with Otterbein on December 2nd.
