COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team finally got back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the Marietta Pioneers by a final score of 95-87. The win broke a string of three consecutive losses by the Comets and saw the Purple and White put forth their best offensive outing of the season. 

Capital is now 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the OAC, while Marietta drops to 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference. 

In what turned out to be a relatively close game throughout, the Comets found themselves behind early in the first half. The visitors used that early lead to extend margins of eight points over the Comets three times in the first half of play. With Capital down 28-20 with 7:19 left to play, a three-point play from Torrien Perkins started a 19-3 run by the Comets to flip the scoreboard. The run was punctuated with back-to-back three-pointers by McKane Finkenbine and Dallas Tucker. 

From there, the Pioneers chipped away at the Comets lead and made it a 41-40 halftime score, Capital in front. 

Out of the half, the Comets hit the gas hard early, led by Finkenbine's hot shooting. First, Finkenbine converted an and-one layup before knocking down two straight three-pointers to make it 50-42. 

As the second half progressed the score stayed close as both teams saw their share of good offensive looks, but a dagger three-pointer by Julian Mitchell made it 87-80, Cap with 3:29 left to play. That advantage was enough to keep Capital in front enough as the Pioneers turned to desperation mode in the end. The Comets kept their nerve at the stripe, converting their free throw opportunities to hold off the Pioneers press. 

Ultimately, the final score read 95-87 in favor of the Comets. 

THE NUMBERS
McKane Finkenbine scored a career-high 25 points to lead five players in double-digits for the Comets. He rounded out a solid outing with three rebounds and four assists. 

Dallas Tucker was next for the Comets with 17 points, paired with three rebounds, one block and career-best seven assists. 

Se'Ron Calloway-White scored 16 points to go with eight boards, two assists, a block and three steals. 

Julian Mitchell netted 13 points to pair with three rebounds, an assist and a block. 

Chris Mitchell scored 10 points to go with a team-best nine rebounds and three assists, three steals. 

Cade Davies and Torrien Perkins each scored seven points off the bench. 

UP NEXT
Capital will take the usual midweek gameday off this coming week as the players will complete finals for the fall semester before they travel to Ohio Northern on Saturday, December 13th. Tipoff in Ada is slated for 1 p.m.