Box Score Photo GalleryBEXLEY, Ohio – The Otterbein University men's basketball team walked away with an enormous victory Wednesday on the road, prevailing with a 77-72 win in an exciting contest at crosstown-rival Capital University.
The win for Otterbein snaps a six-game skid in the series with Capital, getting back into the win column for the first time since an 82-58 triumph near the end of the 2010-11 season. Otterbein moves to 3-9 overall and 2-3 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play as a result of the much-needed win.
The Cardinals opened the game strong defensively, forcing Capital to miss nine of its first 12 shots in building an 11-3 advantage.
Otterbein remained in control and continued frustrating the Crusaders, eventually getting the margin to 24-12 after Capital head coach Damon Goodwin received a technical foul. Cardinal guard Jake Phillis made 3 of 4 free throws during the sequence, followed by a jumper from Matt Hughes to give the team a 12-point lead, its largest of the game.
Capital (4-8, 2-3 OAC) would settle in and attempt to erase the deficit, using an 11-3 run of its own to claw back within four points with 3:50 remaining in the first half. Otterbein's Grant Fenner would drill a timely three-pointer from the right corner on the next trip to stymie the run and the Cards would ultimately take a 38-31 lead into the break.
The Purple and White opened the second half on a 13-4 run to take a 44-42 lead, their first since a 3-2 margin in the opening minutes of the game. Both sides would begin trading buckets in a close contest the rest of the way, seeing ties at 42, 44, 46, 54, 56, 58 and 59 as the game clock ticked under 6:00 to play.
Otterbein continued to fight back every time Capital threatened to pull away, getting back-to-back layups from Marc McCuen and Phillis to tie the matchup, 68-68, with under 3:00 remaining.
Sophomore Chase Moyer came up with perhaps the biggest score of the game on the next offensive trip, draining a go-ahead three-pointer from the right wing to give his squad a 71-68 advantage with two minutes left. It was his only made field goal of the contest.
"Nobody wants to win more than Chase," head coach Todd Adrian said. "I keep telling him that no player is going to make every single shot, so stay positive and have confidence that you'll make the next one. That shot was huge, and then our assistants really helped make some timely adjustments down the stretch. This is a big win for our program, for our alumni and most importantly, our players."
The Cards came up with two key defensive stops from there, and another driving layup from Phillis with 25 seconds to go capped a 9-0 run and Otterbein prevailed.
"It's a great feeling and I know our guys are excited in that locker room right now," Adrian said. "I've been telling them for a month now to just be patient, persevere through the tough times and keep working hard. I couldn't be more proud of the way they finished the game and the way they played all 40 minutes. We made some mistakes, but we always made up for them. That's what you have to do in a rivalry game like this."
Hughes finished with a game-high 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting, also snagging a season-best 10 rebounds to tally the second double-double of his young career. Phillis finished with a season-high 16 while McCuen had 11.
Five players made it into double figures for the hosts, but Otterbein limited the Capital offense to just 38 percent shooting and a 6 of 21 clip from three-point range.
Otterbein will be back in action Saturday evening, returning home to host Heidelberg University at 7:30 in the Rike Center. The Cards split the season series last year against the Student Princes.
