CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- In front of a packed house of over 1,300 fans, the Ohio Dominican men's basketball team fell in its season opener, losing to Cedarville 90-86.

The Panthers go to 0-1 on the young season, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 1-0 after the first game of the Don Callan Classic.

Junior Trent Weaver (Columbus, OH) has made an act for setting career highs in season openers, scoring a career best 24 points. Weaver was 9-11 from the field, while also grabbing eight rebounds.

Junior Chad Nelson (Columbus, OH) added 14 points and a team high seven assists.

Two freshmen made an impact in their first collegiate contests in Ronnie Williams (Columbus, OH) and Shemar Waugh (Columbus, OH). Williams scored 11 points making three of his five three point field goal attempts. Waugh started at the point for the Panthers and scored nine points while adding four assists and four rebounds.

ODU shot 30-60 (50.0%) from the field, while making 8-14 (57.1) three point attempts. The Panthers shared the ball well assisting on 15 of the 30 made baskets. ODU held a rebound advantage of 37-31 over CU.

ODU opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 45-39 lead with just under 17 minutes remaining in regulation.

The Yellow Jackets were able to regain the lead 55-52, but a Williams three pointer made tied the game with 13:04 left in the second half. CU answered with a 7-0 run to take a 62-55 lead with 10:31 remaining.

Over the next seven minutes, CU led, but a spin move layup from Weaver tied the game 74-74 with 3:30 left in the second half.

The Panthers fell behind by as many as five, but a Nelson three point field goal made the score 80-78 with just under 1:30 remaining in the game. That was the closest the Panthers could get the score as the Yellow Jackets capitalized on their free throws down the stretch to take a 90-86 victory.

The Panthers opened up the game on an 8-2 run led by Weaver who scored three of the eight points. In a half which saw both teams shoot 16-26 (61.5%) from the field, ODU gained their largest lead of the half with 9:32 remaining on a free throw from freshman Ronnie Williams (Columbus, OH).

The Yellow Jackets used a 7-0 run to tie the game 27-27 with 5:10 remaining in the opening half, before taking a 39-37 lead into the break.

CU was led by Preseason First Team All-GMAC selection Marcus Reineke. Reineke scored 24 points on 8-12 shooting, while adding four assists. Reineke made four three point field goals out of six tries to lead the Yellow Jackets.

The Panthers will look to rebound quickly with their second game of the season starting just 17 hours. ODU will play in the first game of Day Two of the Dan Callan Classic at Cedarville as they tip off at 6 p.m. against Alderson-Broaddus.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu