BOX SCORE
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - Senior All-America candidate Nate Stahl got #11 Capital off to a strong start and then the second-seeded Crusaders held on for a 63-58 victory over third-seeded Ohio Northern in the first Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Semifinal Game on Friday evening.
With the win, Capital (24-3) will move on to the OAC Championship Game against either John Carroll or Muskingum at JCU's DeCarlo Varsity Center on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game can be heard locally on WFCO 90.9 FM and can be followed with FREE Live Stats and Live Video Streaming at http://www.capitalcrusaders.net/.
Stahl (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) tallied 12 of his team-high tying 14 points in the first half of play to lead the Crusaders to a 32-22 advantage at halftime. The senior wing finished the night with a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the free throw line while also draining a pair of three-point shots to go along with three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Classmate Quintin Mitchell (Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Libbey HS) scored 14 points of his own while connecting on 7-of-11 shots from the floor while pulling down five rebounds. He added one assist, one blocked shot and one key steal with 79 seconds remaining to aid in the victory for CU.
Fellow senior Ross Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio/St. Henry HS) and sophomore DJ Frazier (Cincinnati, Ohio/Withrow HS) pitched in with eight points each as the Crusaders made 20-of-45 (.444) shots from the floor while holding a 21-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
After the intermission, Capital took its lead up to a game-high 14 at the 18:19 mark with three jumpers in as many possessions by Mitchell to begin the half.
The Crusaders would remain in control for the next seven minutes until Kyle Meyer made a layup with 11:38 remaining to cut the CU lead to 43-35. That basket would begin a surge that pulled the Polar Bears to within four at 45-41 with 9:37 left on a layup by Matt Phillips. After a Capital timeout, Niekamp worked his way to the free throw line and stopped the ONU momentum with a pair of conversions at the 8:49 mark. Niekamp would hit another free throw along with a jumper just 1:45 later and the Crusaders were up by nine at 50-41.
Ohio Northern responded quickly with an 8-0 run over the next 1:32 and made it a one-point CU lead with only 4:54 remaining. However, the veteran Crusader squad would gather itself as Stahl and Frazier would trade baskets with ONU to take the CU lead back to three. From there, Ohio Northern would get as close as two with 1:56 left, but a steal by Mitchell turned into a layup of his own followed by free throws from Fanning and Frazier to give the Crusaders a 63-58 victory.