Box Score

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Cardinal men's hoops team was defeated by cross-town rival Capital, 70-47, Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd of over 2,500 fans inside the Rike Center.

Otterbein (7-10 overall) falls to 3-7 in Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) standings and drop the season series with Capital. The Cardinals will now shift their focus to a matchup at No. 18-ranked Marietta next Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

The tempo in the first half of action matched the spectators' energy as Capital opened the game on a 12-4 scoring run through the first five minutes.

Otterbein quickly found itself down nine points at the 10:44 mark before Capital opened up its first double-digit lead of the night at 25-14.

The Crusaders led by as many as 12 points in the frame but the Cardinals did not fold ending with a 10-3 run to put themselves down 31-26 with senior Bryan Mackenzie pacing Otterbein with nine points. 

Mackenzie gave the Cards their first lead of the game exactly two minutes into the second half on a three-pointer, as he accounted for eight of the team's first nine points.

The Crusaders then regained control of the contest by putting together a 20-5 run in just under eight minutes to take a 51-37 advantage. Capital boosted its lead to 17 points just over a minute later, prompting an Otterbein timeout.

Capital took its largest lead of the game with 1:32 left to play as a 70-47 lead proved to be the result of a 12-6 run. The Crusaders ended the game holding the Cards to no made field goals over the final 4:50 of play.

Mackenzie led the Cardinals in scoring with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, knocking down four three-pointers and corralling five rebounds. Junior Matt Hughes checked in with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Guards Corey Howard and Cameron Arminio each checked in with seven points as the Cards finished the game with a 32.7 percent mark from the field.

Capital concluded the night shooting 50.9 percent from the floor thanks to a 34-20 advantage in points in the paint and a 42-28 margin in rebounding.