MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Ohio Dominican men's basketball team struggled with shooting as the Panthers closed out their road trip with a 75-52 loss to Northern Michigan on a cold Saturday afternoon.

Both teams came out tentative, and it took nearly three minutes into the first half before the Panthers (3-7; 1-5 GLIAC) scored the first points of the game off a sophomore Mark Minch (West Chester, Ohio) basket. ODU extended its lead to 6-2 at the 15:20 mark after Minch and sophomore Chad Nelson (Columbus, Ohio) each scored.

At the 11:27 mark, sophomore Jordan Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio) gave ODU its largest lead of the half 13-6 after a made layup.

Ohio Dominican saw its lead slowly slip away as Northern Michigan's (3-7; 2-4 GLIAC) Marcus Hall gave the Wildcats their first tie of the opening frame at 20-20, with a 3-point jump shot on an assist by Terry Hall, with 5:43 left to play. A minute later, the Wildcats took their first lead 22-20 with a Chavis Mattison basket.

The combination of Hall and Mattison gave the Wildcats a five-point lead at 25-20 with 2:42 remaining to play and extended the lead to 31-20 on a Larry Taylor 3-point jump shot.

Northern Michigan held the Panthers scoreless for the remainder of the period to head into the locker room with an 11-point lead.

Ohio Dominican shot just 33.3 percent from the field on 7-of-21 shooting while the Wildcats shot 34.3 percent on a 11-of-32 shooting clip.

After the intermission, the Panthers could not find their rhythm, and trailed the Wildcats 49-30 at the first media timeout of the period.

Michigan Tech continued to roll, and built up a 58-35 margin at the 9:59 mark.

The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, but the Panthers could not cut into the deficit, and fell by 23.

Minch and Nelson paced the Panthers with 12 points apiece while sophomore Trent Weaver (Hilliard, Ohio) added nine points and five rebounds.

Ohio Dominican will return to Columbus on Thursday, Jan. 9 for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Lake Superior in Alumni Hall.

Contact: Sarah Twiggs
twiggss@ohiodominican.edu