BOX SCORE
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior Nate Stahl finished a perfect 6-for-6 from three-point range to lead #14 Capital to a 77-63 win in a crosstown battle at NAIA opponent Ohio Dominican on Thursday.
Stahl (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) finished with a game-high 20 points for Capital (8-1) which outshot Ohio Dominican (7-6) by a margin of 54.3 percent to 37.9 percent. Stahl’s 6-for-6 effort from beyond the arc is the most makes without a miss by a player nationally in NCAA Division III this season. The Capital University record for overall three-point shots made in a single game is three, which was last accomplished by Stahl in the NCAA First Round win over Bethany last seasoon.
Three Crusaders finished in double figures as senior Ross Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) tallied 17 points while classmate Quintin Mitchell (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Libbey HS) added 12. Niekamp hit on 6-of-10 shots from floor including three treys to go along with three rebounds, two assists and one block. Mitchell had six rebounds and one block while connecting on 6-of-7 shots from the free throw line.
Senior Casey Brown (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Ready HS) tallied nine points and a team-best seven rebounds while dishing out a career-high four assists. Fellow senior Jake Fanning (Danbury, Ohio/Danbury HS) added a season-high tying four assists of his own for the Crusaders.
After a sloppy opening minute of play by both teams, Capital got on the board first with a layup by Casey Brown off a feed from Ross Niekamp at the 18:46 mark. After a three-point shot by Ohio Dominican gave the home team a 3-2 advantage, Nate Stahl would take over for the visiting Crusaders. Stahl hit four three point shots in a span of only 6:52 including three straight CU possessions to give Capital a 20-11 lead with 10:50 remaining in the opening half.
Overall, Stahl was a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half to lead all players with 15 points. He was followed by nine points from Ross Niekamp and a five-point, five-rebounds effort by Casey Brown as Capital took a 39-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. CU made 12-of-24 shots from the field overall including 6-of-12 from long range. The Crusaders also overcame 12 turnovers by forcing nine ODU mistakes which resulted in 15 CU first-half points.
Ohio Dominican made a run in the second half to close to within 11 with 12:42 remaining, but could not get any closer as Capital would commit just five turnovers and hit on 59.1 percent of its shots in the second half to secure a 77-63 victory.
Capital will resume a stretch of three games in five days with a pair of home contests. CU takes on OAC rival Muskingum on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Crusaders will then face non-conference foe Kenyon on Monday at 7 p.m.