BOX SCORE
TIFFIN, Ohio – Senior Quintin Mitchell tallied a career-high 31 points including 21 in the second half to lead #11 Capital to a 79-76 come-from-behind victory at Heidelberg on Wednesday in Ohio Atlantic Conference men’s basketball action.
Mitchell (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Libbey HS) made 12-of-17 shots from the floor to finish with his first collegiate effort of more than 30 points while playing just 26 minutes. He was also 7-of-8 from the free throw line to go along with seven rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal.
Classmate Casey Brown (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Ready HS) added another solid performance in the paint with 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal in 21 minutes of action off the bench.
Fellow senior Nate Stahl (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) scored 11 points on the strength of a 2-for-4 effort from three-point range to move into fifth place on the CU all-time scoring list. Stahl now has 1,481 career points and enters Saturday’s regular season finale just 15 points shy of the fourth spot in the Crusader record books.
The Capital turnaround was sparked by an increase in offensive efficiency as CU improved from a 30.8 percent (8-of-26)) shooting effort in the first half to drain 17-of-31 shots (.548) in the final 20 minutes of action.
Capital’s ability to get to the free throw line not only kept the contest close in the first half, but aided in the second-half surge. CU was 25-of-35 from the stripe in the game while HU went just 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The Crusaders also held a 14-5 advantage in second chance points including a 11-1 margin following halftime to overcome a Student Prince lead that reached as many as 17 with 8:13 left in the opening stanza.
After entering the locker room at halftime down by just 10 at 40-30, Capital used a 5-0 spurt over the opening 1:57 of the second half to pull to within five behind two Mitchell layups that were sandwiched around a free throw by Ross Niekamp.
Ryan Wood would work the deficit down to just four with a pair of free throws at the 14:49 mark until HU would answer with a layup to make it a 49-43 game with 14:30 left. From there both sides went cold on offense until Mitchell ignited the Crusader road faithful with a steal and a dunk to pull CU within four at 49-45 with 13:09 on the clock.
Capital would get as close on two occasions before Jake Fanning would make it a third on a jumper with 6:30 remaining to make it a 62-61 deficit. Stahl would respond on the next offensive possession for CU with a three pointer off a feed from Wood to give Capital its first lead of the game at 64-62 with 5:32 left.
Heidelberg would come back to take a brief advantage at 66-65 before Wood drilled a trey with 3:53 on the clock that gave the Crusaders the lead for good. Nate Stahl would hit a three along with buckets from Niekamp and Mitchell down the stretch to preserve a 76-72 victory for Capital.
The Crusaders will host Otterbein in the regular season finale on Saturday in the opener of a basketball doubleheader at 2 p.m. The men will honor their seven seniors in a pregame ceremony before taking on the Cardinals. The CU and OC women will follow after the conclusion of the men’s contest.