COLUMBUS , Ohio – The Ohio Dominican men's basketball team held off a late run by Wilberforce University to win a much needed American Mideast Conference victory on Saturday afternoon in Alumni Hall.   The Panthers', 64-61, victory was the second of the season over the Bulldogs.

Ohio Dominican jumped out to an early lead for the second straight game in the conference battle.   Wilberforce battled back and took their only lead of the game thanks to a five point swing, but a 3-pointer by senior Bryan West (Coshocton, OH) gave ODU back the lead.   The Panthers would never trail again in the contest taking advantage of 16 second-chance points and got a huge night from the bench.

Freshman forward John Trew (Barberton, OH) led the way for the Panthers who came off the bench to spark the Panthers with 10 points.   Trew connected on 4-of-7 shots from the field including two from behind the 3-point arc.

The Panthers increased their lead to as many as eight points in the first half and clung to a 32-27 advantage heading into the break.

Dominic Russo (Sagamore Hills, OH) drained a 3-pointer to start the second half, but a six point swing by the Bulldogs cut the lead to two.   The two teams traded buckets for most of the second half until ODU took a three point lead with just over two minutes to play.   Wilberforce cut the lead to one with 14 seconds to play, but back-to-back free throws by Donald Suel (Columbus, OH; pictured) iced the game for the Panthers.

Suel led the way for Ohio Dominican with a game high 17 points, including 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.   Russo also went for double figures as he scored 11 points in the win.

Ohio Dominican, now 12-12 overall and 5-4 in the AMC , return to action on Tuesday, February 3rd as they head to Lima, Ohio to face the University of Northwestern Ohio in a conference showdown with the Racers.   Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.