WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's basketball team made 10 three-pointers in the first half to build a 51-42 halftime lead, but Capital University held a 56-36 edge in points in the point to earn a 92-87 win in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) game at Hermann Court on Wednesday evening.
Using the long-distance shot as its weapon, Wilmington scored on its first three possessions and led the entire first half. The Quakers would lead by as many as 14 (34-20) after Payton Smith found DaeShawn Jackson for a three-pointer at the 8:35 mark. The Crusaders answered with a 12-2 run to get back within four, but triples by three different Quakers gave Wilmington the lead at the break.
Capital continued to get the ball inside as the second half opened, and scored the first eight points to get within one three-and-a-half minutes in. Neither side would lead by more than a possession until over 14 minutes later. With the score tied 74-74 and 4:37 on the clock, a 6-0 spurt from Capital put the Crusaders up six. Colin Myers, who poured in a career-high 20 points, tied the game 83-83 with a corner triple at the 1:52 mark.
The Crusaders scored on their next two possessions while the Quakers came up empty. The hosts were forced to foul, and the visitors made their free throws to seal the road win.
Both teams made 34 field goals, though Capital did it on 13 fewer shots that led to a 56.7 shooting percentage for the game. Wilmington countered with 13 triples on 29 attempts (44.8 percent) compared to just two for the visitors. The Crusaders made up that deficit by made 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) of their free throw attempts and grabbing eight more rebounds.
Individually, Reed Bradfield led all scorers with 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting while Joe Hartmann had 20 points and Ganiyu Yahaya added a double-double.
Myers finished with a career-high 20 points while Jackson added 15. Payton, Mansfield and Matt Smith also finished in double figures in scoring while Abdul Kanu notched eight points and 10 rebounds.
Wilmington (4-8, 2-3 OAC) heads to John Carroll University on Saturday. Tip-off from the DeCarlo Center is scheduled for 3 p.m.
