PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein men's basketball dropped a close one with cross town rival Capital Saturday night inside the Rike Center. The Cardinals saw opportunities to tie the game up down the stretch, but ultimately Capital emerged victorious, 64-58. The win puts Capital at 4-3, and 1-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. For Otterbein, they now sit at 3-4 overall and 0-2 within the OAC.
 
Both sides got off to a slow start, with the score at just 11-10 in favor of the Cardinals well over seven minutes into the game. In rivalry fashion both sides gutted it out down the stretch of the first half, delivering blow after blow, but neither team could pull away by more than five through the first 20 minutes of action.

At the sound of the first half horn, Capital held a 30-29 advantage, as Dallas Patrick was unable to convert an open shot to take the lead with time ticking away.
 
Capital went just 1-10 from three in the first half, but held the advantage thanks to some key second chance opportunities off those missed shots.
 
The second half scoring was at a snail's pace over the first six minutes, with just a combined 10 points scored over that stretch, both sides looking for offensive consistency. After finally establishing themselves on offense at 9:42, Capital began to pull away, building its lead up to as many as six before the Cards came battling back.
 
Down 51-45 Otterbein went on a 5-0 run over just 40 seconds of game time, getting a steal and a fast break score from Nick Koontz, followed up by an and-one from Justin Carter.
 
Following the free throw, Otterbein trailed just 51-50, but would never take the lead. Capital turned things back on, darting ahead to lead by eight with 4:10 to play. The Crusader lead proved to be too much, with Cardinal shots seemingly going half way down before rolling off the rim.
 
Capital sunk its free throws down the stretch, and eventually came away victorious, 64-58.
 
The Crusaders were led by Cameron Caldwell, scoring a team-high 15 points. Close behind was Reed Bradfield with 14, and Ganiyu Yahaya with 13.
 
Otterbein was led by Patrick, scoring a game-high 16 points on 6-13 from the field. Carter was the only other Cardinal in double figures, with 14 points in 36 minutes.
 
Otterbein will enjoy a week off before traveling to Heidelberg on December 14th, tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.