Will Miller scores career-high 20 points as Men’s Basketball falls to Capital

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Freshman Will Miller (Ottoville) scored a career-high 20 points Saturday afternoon as the Ohio Northern men's basketball team fell 72-62 to Capital at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears fall to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference while the Comets improve to 5-5, 2-2.

Miller was 6-of-7 from the foul line and added five rebounds and three steals to his game-high point total.

Senior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line and finished with 13 points for ONU.

Senior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Kaleb Crawford finished with a team-high 13 points for Capital, which also got a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to go with five assists from Griffin Doseck.

Joe Thompson and Dom Moegerle added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for CU.

The Comets opened up a 21-12 lead midway through the first half, but the Polar Bears answered with an 18-11 run to get back within two, 32-30, with 4:19 remaining.

Junior Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) spurred that run with a 3-pointer as part of six points to go with four from Scott and a triple from Miller.

A 3-pointer from Carter Combs extended CU's lead back out to nine, 41-32, with 53 seconds left in the opening half, and the Comets took that edge into halftime.

A free throw from Miller cut CU's lead to two, 45-43, with 11:23 left in the game, and a pair of free throws from Napier got ONU within one, 50-49, with 7:18 remaining. But the Polar Bears were unable to complete the comeback.

The Comets' lead grew to 10, 70-60, on a pair of free throws from Doseck with 52 seconds left en route to the 10-point CU victory.

Ohio Northern made 19-of-50 field goals for 38% and was 3-of-13 from 3-point range for 23.1%, while CU made 28-of-57 field goals for 49.1% and was 6-of-21 from beyond the arc for 28.6%.

ONU was 21-of-27 from the free-throw line for 77.8%, and Capital was 10-of-14 for 71.4%.

CU out-rebounded ONU by a 35-31 margin.

The Polar Bears return to action on Dec. 29-30 for games against Clarkson (N.Y.) and Suffolk (Mass.) at the Naples (Fla.) Classic.