News Release

WESTERVILLE, Ohio —
By Mark Znidar, Columbus Dispatch
Capital went into last night’s game against Otterbein as a young, overachieving team that was beginning to find its way in the dark, back alley called the Ohio Athletic Conference.

The Crusaders might have left the gym with something of a bachelor’s degree in gut-check basketball.

A tip-in by Jake Beck with 28 seconds remaining and three free throws, two by freshman Mark Tinklenberg, in the final 9.8 seconds propelled Capital to a stunning 76-75 victory over Otterbein before a nearcapacity crowd of 3,053 in the Rike Center.

Afterward, Crusaders coach Damon Goodwin was pushed by an Otterbein fan who had been heckling him. The fan ran out of the gym and was followed by Capital players, fans and police.

Goodwin and police refused to comment. Otterbein coach and athletics director Dick Reynolds said he would check videotape to see if the fan could be identified.

The Crusaders (9-4, 5-2) erased a 14-point halftime deficit against a team that had been shooting 72 percent from the field (13 of 18).

"This is a huge win for our team," Goodwin said. "To be honest, I just wanted it to be respectable after halftime. The kids gave us a chance. They played as hard as they could."

Capital trailed 37-23 at halftime, but it rallied behind Jeff Hager (15 points), point guard Dave Johnson (14 points, six assists) and Tinklenberg (10 points).

The game turned with one minute remaining when Otterbein center Neil Hohman missed two free throws with the Cardinals leading 72-71.

Johnson drove the lane and missed a short jumper, but Beck wove through the crowd for a tip-in with 28 seconds left.

"We knew we had to crash the boards at the end, and we kept talking about going after loose balls," Beck said. "We fell behind early and that was because we missed too many layups. We came out in the second half and took it to them."

After Capital forward Jake Meisler drew a charging foul against Otterbein guard Ross Banaszak, Tinklenberg was fouled after grabbing a rebound with 9.8 seconds left. The 6-foot-4 forward from Dublin Coffman calmly made both free throws to make it 75-72.

Beck made 1 of 2 free throws for a 76-72 lead with 3.7 seconds left before Otterbein’s Scott Hadley made a trey at the buzzer.

The Crusaders, who start two freshmen and a sophomore, are 1½ games behind first-place John Carroll. Otterbein is 10-5 overall and 5-3 in conference.

"What you have to do is make big plays when the other team is making big plays," Reynolds said. "Capital was physical and played really hard. When a team comes back at you, you have to counter."