Capital gets share of OAC title

Capital coach Damon Goodwin often talks to his players about how they would like to be remembered by fans, fellow students and opponents in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Will you be just another face in a crowd or a champion?

For the current team, the answer is champions. The Crusaders defeated Muskingum 65-60 on Saturday to get a share of the regular-season championship with John Carroll.

This was supposed to be a team that didn’t have a chance to win. It is 16-9 and seeded second in the OAC tournament going into a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Capital Center.

“Oh, man, this is great,” said senior guard Kelly Winter of Dublin Scioto. “We were picked fourth in the conference and used that as motivation. We wanted to prove that people were wrong. We’ve been able to win because of toughness more than anything. It has been grit.”

This is the fourth regular-season OAC title for coach Damon Goodwin since 2002-03. It could be his best work.

Goodwin deflects the praise to assistants Cort Hamilton, Matt Sylvester and Tyler Schleich. They coached many practices and games after Goodwin’s mother, Emma Jane, died on Nov. 22.

“I missed almost two weeks of practice for the funeral and taking care of my mother’s estate,” Goodwin said. “I was going back and forth from Columbus to St. Mary’s. Every Tuesday, I’d say, ‘Guys, I’ve got to go.’ Cort, Matt and Tyler would take over the team. Cort was coach when we beat Heidelberg up there. They were outstanding in holding this team together.”

Matt Croci, a former Capital assistant and Kenyon head coach, flew in from Florida to help out.

The players rallied in winning nine of 10 games after a 5-6 start.

“I am truly proud of how our guys came together and played hard,” Goodwin said. “That says a lot about what kind of people they are. It was a year when I thought we were going to struggle.”

Winter said the players did not want to let down Goodwin.

“That was terrible for Coach,” Winter said. “That was so hard on him. It was hard on our guys. We kept Coach in the back of our minds. We wanted to make it special for him. Now, the guys are ready to go again. The postseason is what you play for.”

Ohio playing to the crowd

The Ohio University men’s team set a season record of 15 home victories with a 72-59 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday and an 81-62 victory over North Carolina-Ashville on Saturday.

The Convocation Center has been rocking. A crowd of 5,028 showed up for the Bowling Green game and 9,961 for UNC-Ashville.

Fans saw their team dig deep in coming back from losses at Toledo and Eastern Michigan.

“We are very resilient,” coach John Groce said. “We came back from that trip and did not practice well at all on Monday. I said, ‘Oh, boy.’ I challenged them and their energy level rose.”

A lot more energy will be needed if Ohio (21-6, 8-4) is to earn one of the top four seeds in the Mid-American Conference tournament. The top two seeds get byes into the semifinals and the third and fourth seeds get first-round byes. Akron (11-1), Kent State (9-3) and Buffalo (9-3) are ahead of the Bobcats in the East Division. Eastern Michigan (6-6) leads the West.

The stretch run begins at Buffalo on Wednesday and continues against Akron on Sunday at home on ESPNU.

“This is a big week for us,’’ Groce said. “It’s good to be in position where you are playing for something. No doubt, this feels like we’re already in a tournament.’’

Groce is not worried about the team’s mindset, but wants it to be fresh.

“Of course, they are going to play hard — it’s February and we are who we are,” he said. “But are we ready? It’s focusing on one game at a time. My job is to make sure their minds and bodies are ready to go.”

Ohio Wesleyan begins Stage 2

Ohio Wesleyan (19-6, 11-5) won six of its past eight games to clinch the third seed in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament behind regular-season champion Wittenberg (14-2) and runner-up Wooster (12-4).

The Bishops have tied the 2003-04 team for the fourth-highest victory total in school history.

Coach Mike DeWitt said a first-round game against Hiram (14-11, 7-9) at Rickey Arena tonight is the start of the real season.

“The season has been rewarding for the fact that we’re a big game on people’s schedule and we’ve been able to respond,” DeWitt said. “Now, the challenge is to extend to the conference tournament. I think we are ready.

“The coaching cliché is that the tournament is the second season, and that’s the way we approach it. Your goal is to win the conference tournament and get into the NCAA Tournament. I think we have enough energy and we have the mindset.” Wooster has dominated the conference in recent years, but the NCAC has four teams that can win the tournament this year.

“Our players know what we’re getting into,” DeWitt said. “There are no easy first-round games. It sounds trite, but we have to complete a 40-minute game every game.”

mznidar@dispatch.com