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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University men's basketball fell short in a hotly contested rivalry game Saturday evening, losing 78-60 to cross-town rival Capital University inside the Rike Center.
Capital improves itself to 5-7 overall and 2-3 within the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) as a result of the win, dropping the Cardinals to 2-11 this season and 1-5 against league opponents in the process.
Capital opened strong to take a 10-2 lead in front of a raucous crowd, but Otterbein rallied right back with seven-straight points to settle into the game. The Crusaders later held an 18-13 advantage at the 12:15 mark of the half before a quick 8-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from freshman Grant Fenner, put the Cardinals ahead 21-18.
The contest became chippy as the first-half clocked moved under 6:30 when a few players became tangled under the hoop. A minor scrum proceeded to break out in front of the Otterbein student section and each team was later assessed a technical foul.
Capital took a 36-34 lead into halftime, and the contest remained a one-possession battle a few minutes into the second half after a layup from senior Jon Juergens pulled Otterbein within 46-43.
The Purple and White rattled off six-straight points to force a Cardinal timeout at the 13:16 mark, and later extended the cushion to 60-48 after Curt Giese sank all three free-throws as a result of being fouled on a shot attempt from the right corner.
The Cardinals brought the deficit back down to eight, 64-56, as the game clocked ticked under 6:00. The eight points would unfortunately be as close as Otterbein would get the remainder of the way.
Jake Bischoff led Otterbein with a 15-point performance while freshman Jake Phillis chipped in 14 off the bench. Forward Marshall Crum marked the third Cardinal in double figures by scoring 10 on 4-of-5 shooting.
AJ Dixon poured in a game-best 24 points to lead Capital, which shot .481 from the field compared to Otterbein's .382 output.
Both sides combined to shoot 10 of 31 from beyond the arc, but the Crusaders took advantage of a few more possessions by out-rebounding the Cards, 40-25.
Otterbein will hit the road for a pair of OAC games next week, traveling to Wilmington College Wednesday evening before a 3 p.m. date at Heidelberg University Saturday afternoon.
