Capital edges ONU Men's Hoops in 69-67 OAC thriller

Jan. 12, 2008

By Zach Stipe

ADA — No. 16-ranked Capital withstood a 15-0 second-half run by the Ohio Northern men’s basketball team to hold on to a 69-67 victory at the ONU Sports Center in Ada on Saturday.

With the win, the Crusaders improved to 11-2 overall and 6-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

The Polar Bears dropped to 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the OAC.

Senior Kyle Gehle scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half and ignited Northern’s big run with a flurry of 3-pointers and runners in the lane. Gehle now has 1,081 career points which is 29th all-time at ONU.

Sophomore Kyle Meyer added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench for the Polar Bears.

Steve Kyser scored 17 points and Ryan Wood had 16 points to lead Capital.

Nate Stahl added 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Crusaders.

Capital opened up a 13-point lead just 1:15 into the second half after Wood and Stahl hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make the score 42-29.

Gehle and Meyer brought Northern back, though.

After Stahl hit a jumper to put Capital up 45-35 at 14:18, Meyer and Gehle combined to score 15 straight points to give ONU a five-point lead.

Meyer hit two free throws to make the score 45-37 at the 13:55 mark.

Two minutes later, Gehle drilled a pair of 3-pointers in a span of 21 seconds to make the score 45-43 at 11:31. Less than a minute later, Gehle nailed two free throws to tie the game at 45-45.

Meyer followed with a jumper then was fouled while making a layup. He made the free throw to put ONU up 50-45 with nine minutes left in the game.

Stahl ended Northern’s run with a jumper at 8:45, but Gehle answered right back with a 3-pointer to put ONU up 53-47 with 8:22 left.

Capital’s Jake Fanning made five free throws in a 24-second span to erase a four point deficit and put the Crusaders up 58-57 with 5:57 left in the game.

Senior Mark Pratt made two free throws to put Northern up 59-58 at the 4:56 mark, but Ross Niekamp answered with a back-to-back layups to put Capital up three with four remaining.

With 33 seconds left, Fanning hit two more free throws to put Capital up 68-64.

In the first half, Capital went on a 17-2 run go up 34-21 with 2:15 left before halftime.

“Gehle hit some tough, great shots. I’m happy we were able to get back into the game,” ONU head coach Jeff Coleman said. “We can’t lose too many more games if we want to stay in the OAC race, though, because Capital isn’t losing.”

ONU shot 47.3 percent for the game and 58.3 percent in the second half. Capital made just 34.9 percent of its shots, but held a 45-34 edge in rebounding.

The Crusaders made 18-of-24 free throws, while the Polar Bear made 9-of-19 from the line.

Ohio Northern begins a three-game road trip against Muskingum at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.