BOX SCORE
Morrison, MBB Alumni Return to Capital
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The eighth-ranked Capital University men’s basketball team was in control from wire to wire and led by as many as 38 at one point en route to a 93-64 victory over visiting Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference action.
The Crusaders (16-1, 9-1 OAC) secured their 10th consecutive victory and their second of the season over the Yellow Jackets (6-11, 2-8 OAC). The 29-point margin of victory was also the largest of the season for Capital, which is off to its best start in school history.
Senior All-America candidate Nate Stahl (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) paced Capital with team-highs of 13 points while making 2-of-2 shots from three-point range and seven rebounds.
“Today was a good team win for us,” Stahl said. “We did what we had to do to stay on top. We are looking forward to the game on Wednesday. They (Wilmington) came out fired up last time and took it to us. We need to stay focused and keep our guys ready to play.”
Classmate Ross Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) had 13 points of his own while hitting on two treys of his own as Capital went 5-of-9 from long range.
Fellow senior Quintin Mitchell (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Libbey HS) came off the bench to tally 10 points, five rebounds and three assists to help CU post a 36-32 edge at points in the paint and 45-36 lead in bench points.
The duo of senior Ryan Wood (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington Central HS) and sophomore Adam Johns (St. Mary’s, Ohio/St. Mary’s Memorial HS) finished with nine points each with Wood adding a career-high six assists and Johns following with a perfect day of shooting as he went 3-of-3 from the field and the free throw line.
Overall, Capital used a hot shooting offense and solid rebounding on their way to victory. CU made 32-of-50 (.640) shots from the floor overall while holding a 43-24 lead in rebounding.
The Crusaders opened the game on a tear with a 14-2 run over the first 5:42 of the contest. Stahl tallied five points while Brown added four points to take control of the game.
From there, B-W would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way and CU took its lead to as many as 22 and finished the first stanza with an alley-oop dunk by Mitchell from Wood to take a 49-32 halftime lead en route to a 93-64 victory.
Capital will look to avenge its only loss of the season when it plays host to Wilmington on Wednesday. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. from the Capital Center.