The Capital University men's basketball team held on to its No. 1 ranking in the Ohio Athletic Conference in an overtime thriller Wednesday night, while Coach Damon Goodwin recorded career win No. 300.
Capital defeated local rival Otterbein 86-75 in overtime in an OAC affair at The Capital Center.
“The 300th win just means I’ve been here a long time, and it means we’ve good good players and good coaches,” the 18-year coach said. “It’s a nice honor, but it really doesn’t mean anything. It means something because if we follow through with this, we could put a number up on a banner, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
With the victory, the Crusaders (15-7 overall, 12-3 OAC) remain alone in first place in the conference standings, two games ahead of a trio teams with three to play after second-place John Carroll was knocked off 78-62 at Baldwin-Wallace.
A win on Saturday at Baldwin-Wallace would clinch at least a share of the regular season league title. Capital last won the OAC regular season championship in 2007-08.
Wednesday’s game was a nail-biter from start to finish, as Capital finally pulled away early in overtime with a 7-0 run to start the extra period. The Crusaders never trailed in the overtime, and knocked down nine free throws in the final 1:45 to pull away.
Six players finished in double-figure scoring, led by senior Kelly Winter (Dublin, Ohio), who posted a game-high 25 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
“We knew it would be a tough, hard-fought battle,” Winter said. “They’re fighting for the postseason and we’re fighting to keep first place. It’s a rivalry, so this gives us huge momentum.”
Junior Spencer Niekamp (St. Henry, Ohio) added 16 points for Capital, which shot 50.9 percent for the game and made 25-of-32 free throws, compared to 45.9 percent and 13-of-20 for the Cardinals (7-15, 4-11).
The Crusaders struggled early in the game on both ends of the floor and trailed 26-12 with 6:53 left in the first half.
“I thought we were aggressive and made some vertical plays at the basket (later in the game),” Goodwin said. “That’s what we weren’t doing the first 10-12 minutes of the game, and that’s why (Otterbein) got the lead.
“I give our guys a lot of credit, we could have folded a couple times, but we came back and made big plays, which is what good teams do.”
Capital responded with a 16-5 run into the half, closing its deficit to 31-28 heading into the locker room and gaining momentum heading into the second half.
The Crusaders took their largest lead of the second half, a nine-point margin, after a pair of free throws by junior Mitch Westerheide (Ft. Loramie, Ohio) with 9:13 to play. Otterbein trimmed its deficit all the way down to 64-61 with 2:19 on the clock, then scored the next four points to take a 65-64 advantage with 1:06 remaining.
After a timeout, Winter countered on the next possession with an off-balance jumper to put Capital back ahead by one. After the Cardinals knocked down one of two free throws to tie the contest, Winter launched a fadeaway jumper that was rebounded and tipped in by junior Michael Sommer (Celina, Ohio), but just after the buzzer sounded and regulation had ended.
“I tried to create and get to the basket, but ended up taking a tough shot,” Winter said. “Mike Sommer was there, and he might have gotten it on time, but we took care of it in overtime.”
Westerheide (10 points), Sommer (11), junior Ben Jackson (12) and sophomore Jared Cashen (11) also ended up in double figures for the Crusaders. Otterbein outscored Capital 42-30 in the paint, but the Crusaders generated 19 points off turnovers compared to the Cardinals’ eight.
Capital’s game at Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Berea, Ohio.
“We’ve got a chance to do something very special here, but we’ve got a tough road ahead,” Goodwin said. “We go to B-W, we go to Marietta and then Muskingum (at home) will be a tough game. We just have to focus on B-W now.”
Otterbein’s Dick Reynolds, who announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season, was recognized prior to the game. He is in his 40th season as the Cardinals’ head coach.