NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Tomcat men's basketball squad fell in the opening round of the Westminster College's Buzz Ridl Classic Friday evening to Capital University 76-56.

Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) led the Tomcats (0-1) with a game-high 19 points and four rebounds. Chace McKinney (Boardman, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) added 11 points and nine rebounds while Ladell Trotty (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran East) chipped in with nine points and five rebounds.

Thiel finished shooting just 21-of-61 (34.4%) but held a 38-37 advantage on the glass.

Ben Jackson led the Crusaders (0-1) with 17 points and five rebounds. Spencer Niekamp and Jared Cashen added 12 and 11 points, respectively while corralling five boards apiece.

A Tyler Munro free throw with 31 seconds to play pushed Capital's lead to 13, 37-22, but Adams' layup with five seconds to play cut the Tomcats' deficit to 11, 37-26, heading into the break.

A pair of Trotty free throws at the 9:48 mark of the second half cut Capital's lead to nine, 53-44, but the Crusaders put together a 16-6 run capped by a Jackson layup to push their lead to 19, 69-50, with 3:38 to play.

Thiel returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 19 when they take on Otterbein College at 2 p.m. in the second round of Westminster's Ridl Classic.