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BEXLEY, Ohio – The Cardinal men's basketball team surrendered a 12-point lead in the second half before falling to cross-town rival Capital, 75-67, on Saturday afternoon in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup inside the Capital Center.

Otterbein (2-6 overall) drops to 0-3 in the league and will return home next Saturday to host Muskingum inside the Rike Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

A back-and-forth tempo was the story of the opening half, as both teams shot well over 50 percent from the field with the Cardinals holding the advantage with a 68.4 percent mark despite trailing by four points at halftime.

The Cards got off to a fast start connecting on their first three shots to jump out to a 6-2 advantage, holding the lead for the first nine minutes of action. Capital took its first lead of the game at 14-13 with 11:32 left in the frame, leading to an 8-2 scoring run and a seven-point lead for the Crusaders which prompted an Otterbein timeout.

Senior Bryan Mackenzie and junior Nick Nossaman lifted the Cards following the timeout by combining for the team's next 10 points to cut the Crusader lead to 24-23 with 5:50 remaining.

Freshman Andrew Valeri added to the Cardinal scoring affair by connecting on a trio of shots from beyond the arc over the final five minutes, ending an entertaining first half of play. Valeri led the Cards at the break with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range. 

Otterbein carried its superb shooting into the second half as it regained the lead, 41-40, just over two minutes in before extending its lead to 57-45 following a 12-1 scoring run. The Crusaders did not go away quietly though, manufacturing a 10-2 run of their own to narrow the Cards' lead to four points with 6:43 left to play.

Capital slowly chipped away at the Otterbein lead before taking its first lead in over 11 minutes with 5:41 remaining. The Crusaders would boost their lead to as many as eight points over the final minutes of play, sinking six of their final eight free throws to close out the game.

Mackenzie led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting and a 6-of-7 mark from the foul line. Junior Matt Hughes followed for the Cards with 10 points on 4-of-7 from the floor, tying for a game-high six assists.

Otterbein finished the game shooting 55.6 percent (25-of-45) from the field, besting Capital's line of 50.9 percent (27-of-53). The Crusaders held the key stat of the game with a 34-17 margin in rebounding.