COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's men's basketball team took a 10 point second half lead, but Saginaw Valley rallied to take a 73-69 win in the GLIAC opener Thursday night in Alumni Hall.

Freshman guard Shemar Waugh (Columbus, OH) recorded a career high 17 points on five-of-seven shooting. Waugh also added four assists and three rebounds. Junior Chad Nelson (Columbus, OH) scored is now the only Panther to score in double figures in every game this season as he scored 12 points. Sophomore Reece Dils (Saline, MI) came off the bench to score nine points, which was part of a 23-19 advantage ODU had in bench scoring.

Junior Trent Weaver (Columbus, OH) scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. Weaver also extended his consecutive free throws made to 16.

ODU ran out to a 17-8 lead in the opening eight minutes of the game, as Dils hit a pair of threes to give the Panthers that cushion. The Cardinals tied the game at 23-23 at the 6:10 mark and took their first lead a minute later at 26-25.

The Panthers went on a 10-2 run, though, capped by three pointers by Nelson and Dils, and took a 38-32 advantage into the locker room.

ODU shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first half (14-of-29) and went 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

The lead stretched to 43-33 early in the half after Waugh hit a three and Ward made a layup on an inbounds play, but the Cardinals cut it to 43-39.

ODU built a 59-53 lead with 8:40 left after a pair of Stauffer layups, but the Cardinals responded with a 10-0 burst to go in front 61-59. Ward drilled a three from the left wing to end the run, and Minch made a layup in transition to give the Panthers a 64-61 lead with just over five minutes left.

The Cardinals scored five straight points to go in front 66-64 with 2:45 left. Two free throws by Weaver tied it with just over a minute left, but the Cardinals hit a three with 46.6 seconds left to take a 70-67 lead.

ODU missed a jumper with 30 seconds left and was forced to foul. The Cardinals missed the front end of the one-and-one, but ODU turned it over after the rebound.

SVSU made both free throws to go in front 72-67, and Waugh answered with a layup with 14.3 seconds left. The Cardinals made another free throw to take the 73-69 victory.

The Panthers will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon as they host Hillsdale. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. as Head Coach Dan Evans will coach against his former employer for the third time. Evans and the Panthers went 1-1 last season against the Chargers.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu