BOX SCORE
MARIETTA, Ohio – The post players of #8 Capital proved to be enough to outlast the hot perimeter shooters of homestanding Marietta as the Crusaders beat the Pioneers 84-75 in Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball action on Wednesday night.
With its ninth consecutive victory, Capital improved to 15-1 overall and remained alone in first place in the OAC standings at 8-1 in conference play. Marietta fell to 8-8 overall and 3-6 in OAC action.
On a night that saw the homestanding Pioneers make 11 three-point shots it was the post trio of Quintin Mitchell (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Libbey HS), Adam Johns (St. Marys, Ohio/St. Marys Memorial HS) and Casey Brown (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Ready HS) that led the Crusaders to victory.
Mitchell came off the bench to tally a team-best 18 points while making 9-of-13 shots from the field. He added seven rebounds and one steal in 27 minutes of action.
Johns followed with 11 points while making 5-of-5 free throw attempts to help the Crusaders finish 19-for-22 from the charity stripe. The sophomore also had two assists, one block, one steal and one rebound for a CU bench that outscored the MC reserves 45-21.
Brown posted his third consecutive double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and three assists as Capital posted 38-24 lead at points in the paint.
The Crusader duo of All-America candidates Nate Stahl (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) and Ryan Wood (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central HS) provided some needed balance for the Capital post players with 15 and 14 points respectively on the night. The pair combined to finish 6-for-6 from three-point range. Stahl had four rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist. Wood added two assists and one rebound.
Capital got off to a quick start in the first half as Stahl drilled a trey just 12 seconds into the game off a feed from Ross Niekamp. Although Capital would not trail for the entire first half, it would take nearly eight minutes before the first-place Crusaders would be able to make a run.
With CU on top 21-17 with 12:08 left, the visitors would work the paint to go on a 9-2 surge that was sparked on a traditional three-point play from Johns who was fouled while making a layup. After he converted at the line, Mitchell hit a jumper followed by a layup from Jamie Yoder and an exclamation point dunk by Mitchell to give Capital its largest lead of the night at 30-19 with 9:30 left in the first half.
Marietta would scratch its way back into the contest as it made four three-point shots down the stretch in the first half to close to within two at the break 46-44.
The Pioneers carried that momentum into the second half as they drilled a trey just 20 seconds following the intermission for their first lead of the night at 47-46. From there, the game would go back and forth with four tied scores and eight lead changes over the next 13 minutes of action.
With the score knotted at 66-all at the 7:01 mark, Capital went back inside to regain the lead. Mitchell hit a jumper and a layup in next two possessions to put the Crusaders on top 70-66. Marietta would keep things close for a while until a Mitchell tip-in and a Wood three-point basket at the 2:16 mark put CU ahead by a seven en route to a 84-75 victory.
Capital returns home to begin its second trip through the Ohio Athletic Conference schedule. CU will play host to Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday at 2 p.m.