(HOLLAND, Mich.) – Capital University’s men’s basketball team saw its season end with a 92-72 loss to No. 1 Hope College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship.
The Crusaders, ranked No. 20 in the country, finished with a record of 24-6, while Hope advances to sectional play with a mark of 25-3.
Capital trailed by just four points, 58-54, with 12:37 when Hope went on a decisive 17-2 run over the next five and a half minutes. The Crusaders turned the ball over five times in that stretch and missed both of their field goal attempts as well. Turnovers plagued Capital the whole game, as Hope scored 28 points off of 19 Capital miscues, a season-high for the Crusaders.
Junior guard Nate Stahl (St. Henry/St. Henry) scored a team-high 23 points for Capital, and senior forward Steve Kyser (Sylvania/Southview) added 12. Jesse Reimink had 28 to lead Hope and Marcus Vanderheide scored 26 points, hitting 21 of 27 shots from the field.
"They showed their maturity and their toughness and they picked up their defensive effort," Damon Goodwin, head coach, said. "That's what good teams do. And when guys shoot the ball well as they did, it's tough to win games."
Hope drilled its first three shots of the contest and led 8-2 early before the Crusaders answered, scoring seven straight points to take the lead. The Flying Dutchmen continued their hot shooting from the perimeter, though, connecting on five of their first six 3-pointers to take a 27-21 lead at the 9:21 mark.
But Stahl hit back-to-back 3-pointers, converting the latter into a four-point play after getting fouled on the shot, and the Crusaders took their biggest lead of the first half at 34-30 on a Ross Niekamp (St. Henry/St. Henry) layup with just over five minutes to go before half. Hope came right back though, keeping Capital scoreless for almost four minutes and going on an 11-0 surge to regain the lead at 41-34.
The Crusaders trailed 43-38 at the break despite outrebounding (23-12) and outshooting (53 percent to 48.5) the Flying Dutchmen in the first half, as 11 turnovers resulted in 15 Hope points.