DETROIT – Trailing by six late in the second half, Ohio Dominican's men's basketball team rallied to force overtime, then led wire-to-wire in the extra period as the Panthers defeated host Wayne State 70-64 in GLIAC play.

The Warriors missed their first five shots from the field in the extra period as the Panthers scored 11 of the first 13 points in overtime to win their second straight game.

With the win, ODU improved to 5-10 (3-7 GLIAC).  Under second year head coach Dan Evans, the Panthers have already matched their most wins in conference play in a season, and this is the first time ODU has won consecutive GLIAC games. It's also the first time ODU has defeated Wayne State since joining the GLIAC.

Junior forward Trent Weaver (Hilliard, Ohio) notched his third straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Chad Nelson (Columbus, Ohio) led the Panthers with 17 points, while freshman guards Ronnie Williams (Columbus, Ohio) and Shemar Waugh (Columbus, Ohio) each scored 10 points.

The team stats were nearly identical, as both teams shot 40 percent from the field and ODU had a slight 39-38 edge in rebounding.

The Panthers led 9-4 early before Wayne State answered with a 12-0 run, and the Warriors led for the remainder of the half, taking a 34-29 lead into the break.

ODU hung tight in the second half, as Wayne State led briefly by seven in the opening moments of the half, but that was as big as the lead got. A three-pointer by freshman guard Adam Cytlak (Van Buren, Ohio) and a jumper by Williams brought ODU to within 42-41 with 13:22 left, and ODU temporarily drew even at 47-47 after a Weaver jumper with 8:56 to play.

The Warriors scored the next six points before another Weaver jumper stopped the bleeding with 5:27 left, cutting the deficit to 53-49. Neither team scored for the next two and a half minutes, but Williams ended the cold spell by drilling a three, and a layup by Waugh gave the Panthers their first lead in the second half at 54-53 with 2:43 left.

The lead changed hands down the stretch, but trailing by a point, Waugh made a layup with 11 seconds and drew a foul, finishing off a three-point play that staked the Panthers to a 59-57 advantage with just 11 seconds left.

However, two Warrior free throws with three ticks left would tie the game, sending it to overtime, which was controlled by ODU.

Weaver made two free throws and followed with a dunk to give ODU a 63-60 advantage with 3:14 left. A Warrior free throw cut the lead to two moments later, but neither side scored until Nelson split two free throws with just 56 seconds left, making it 64-61.

Another Nelson free throw and a layup by Weaver bumped the lead to 67-61 with 31 seconds to play, and Williams collected a rebound after a missed WSU three-pointer and hit two free throws with 16 seconds left to seal the win.

Senior Jesse Ward (North Pole, Ak.) chipped in with six rebounds off the bench, while junior Jordan Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio) scored seven points off the bench.

This is the first overtime win since ODU defeated Urbana 93-91 on Nov. 12, 2013.

Ohio Dominican returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Walsh in Alumni Hall.

Contact: Tyler Jester
jestert@ohiodominican.edu