Box Score BEXLEY, Ohio—The Mount Union men's basketball team surrendered a nine-point halftime lead as they suffered a 75-69 loss at Capital. The Purple Raiders (3-5, 0-3 OAC) tied the game with 56 seconds remaining before Capital scored the final six points of the contest.
Senior Jimmy Wood (Wintersville/Indian Creek) scored 14 points in the opening frame as the Raiders took a 41-32 lead into halftime. A pair of freshmen, Clayton Patton (Bolivar/Tuscarawas Valley) and Nate Jacubec (Struthers/Struthers), also played big roles in the half. Patton came off the bench to score 11 points while Jacubec had nine points.
A 24-14 run to open the second half gave the Crusaders their first lead of the game with 7:20 to play. Mount Union evened the score on a Jacubec three-pointer with 1:28 remaining. After a pair of Crusader free throws, sophomore T.J. Gillespie (Toledo/St. John's) made a layup to tie the game again with 56 seconds remaining.
Spencer Niekamp responded with a three-pointer of his own on the next Capital possession to go ahead 72-69 with 45 seconds left. After turning the ball over, the Raiders were forced to foul and Capital made three-of-four free throws for the final six-point deficit.
Wood led all scorers with 19 points and tied senior Matt Wier (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) for a team-best six rebounds. Jacubec and Patton added 17 point and 11 points, respectively.
Capital (4-4, 2-2 OAC) had a balanced offense, led by 15 points for Niekamp. Kelly Winter (13), Michael Sommer (12), and Mitch Westerheide (12) also scored in double-figures.
Mount Union will be in action next on Saturday, December 10th when they return to the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex to take on Wilmington in an Ohio Athletic Conference matchup.
CAPITAL UNIVERSITY 75, MOUNT UNION 69
MOUNT UNION (3-5, 0-3 OAC)
Jimmy Wood 6-11 5-7 19; Nate Jacubec 6-13 3-3 17; Clayton Patton 3-8 4-4 11;
Matt Wier 2-2 1-2 7; T.J. Gillespie 3-11 0-0 7; Matt Kiger 2-4 2-2 6; T.J.
Peatross 0-0 2-2 2; Jimmy Darnley 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Albert 0-1 0-0 0; Justen
Little 0-1 0-0 0; Keith Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 17-20 69.
CAPITAL UNIVERSITY (4-4, 2-2 OAC)
Spencer Niekamp 4-11 6-9 15; Kelly Winter 2-9 9-10 13; Mitch Westerheide 4-4
3-4 12; Michael Sommer 4-9 1-1 12; Tim Congrove 3-4 1-2 9; Jared Cashen 2-3
2-2 6; Adam Blake 1-4 2-3 4; Tyler Munro 1-3 0-0 3; Ben Danhoff 0-4 1-2 1;
Chad Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Cammon 0-0 0-0 0; Ben Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
21-52 25-33 75.
Mount Union................... 41 28 - 69
Capital University............ 32 43 - 75
3-point goals--Mount Union 8-18 (Matt Wier 2-2; Nate Jacubec 2-4; Jimmy Wood
2-4; T.J. Gillespie 1-4; Clayton Patton 1-3; Jordan Albert 0-1), Capital
University 8-14 (Michael Sommer 3-4; Tim Congrove 2-3; Tyler Munro 1-2;
Mitch Westerheide 1-1; Spencer Niekamp 1-4). Fouled out--Mount Union-None,
Capital University-None. Rebounds--Mount Union 36 (Matt Wier 6; Jimmy Wood
6), Capital University 34 (Kelly Winter 6). Assists--Mount Union 14 (Justen
Little 6), Capital University 13 (Mitch Westerheide 4). Total fouls--Mount
Union 24, Capital University 18. Technical fouls--Mount Union-None, Capital
University-None. A-307
