Royal, Rushton score in double figures as Men's Basketball wraps up regular season with 61-47 loss at Capital

By Tim Glon

BEXLEY — Junior Dominique Royal scored 14 points and junior Branden Rushton added 11 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in a 61-47 loss in its regular season finale at Capital Saturday afternoon at the Capital Center.

The Polar Bears fall to 12-13 on the season, while the Crusaders improve to 19-6 overall and win the OAC regular season title outright wth a a 16-2 league mark.

Ohio Northern will enter next week's OAC Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will host Heidelberg in the First Round on Monday evening at 7:30 pm at the ONU Sports Center.

Tim Congrove scored 18 points and Spencer Niekamp added 12 points for CU.

The Crusaders used an 11-2 run over a span of to turn a slim 48-43 advantage into a 59-45 lead with 5:30 left in the contest and the Polar Bears were unable to recover.

Neither team was able to score for nearly five minutes until CU got a basket with 37 second left.

Senior Taylor Kuhlman put ONU ahead 25-24 with 5:21 to play in the first half, but the hosts would score the next five points to take a 29-25 lead into intermission.

The Polar Bears made good on 20 of 47 field goal attempts for 42.6 percent, while the Crusaders made 22 of 48 field goals gor 45.8 percent.

CU won the game from beyond the arc, making 12 of 21 3-pointers for 57.1 percent to just 2 of-11 for ONU with 18.2 percent.

The two teams each grabbed 28 rebounds.

The OAC Tournament schedule is now set, with ONU hosting Heidelberg in the First Round on Monday.

Monday's winner will travel to No. 3 seed Wilmington on Tuesday for an 8 pm Second Round game with that winner playing at No. 2 seed Marietta on Thursday in the Third Round.

The Championship game is slated for Saturday at 7:30 pm.