The Purple Raiders finish the regular season with a record of
11-14 overall and at 9-9 in the OAC ended in a three-way tie for
fifth with Heidelberg and Baldwin-Wallace.
Mount Union will be the No. 7 seed in next week's OAC Tournament
and travel to No. 2 seed Wilmington for a quarterfinal matchup next
Wednesday (Feb. 24) at 7:30 pm.
Junior Dave Pellerite (Olmsted Falls/Olmsted Falls) also chipped in
with eight points and 11 rebounds for the Raiders.
Led by Ben McGrath, who had 12 points and 10 assists, Capital ends
its regular season at 15-10 overall, 10-8 in conference play and
will be the No. 3 seed and host sixth-seeded Baldwin-Wallace in the
OAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Both teams kept the score close early on as they exchanged the lead
seven times throughout the first half. The Crusdaers
eventually pulled away with the lead as they went on a 12-5 run
which was capped off by a dunk from Ryan Wood with 53 seconds left
in the first half and took a 34-27 lead in halftime.
Capital's Ross Niekamp made a free throw to finish off an 8-2 run
to begin the second half and take a 42-29 lead at the 16:43
mark. Mount Union would fight back and get to within two
points on a three pointer from Wood at the 11:30 mark to put the
score at 45-43.
The Raiders wouldn't get any closer than that as the Crusaders
stretched their lead to as many as eight points and marched on to
the 65-58 final.