COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Five players scored at least nine points, as the Ohio Dominican men's basketball team held off Lake Erie down the stretch to take an 81-76 GLIAC victory on Saturday afternoon inside Alumni Hall.

Junior Trent Weaver (Columbus, OH) logged his sixth double-double of the season as he recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds. Weaver also set a career high in blocks with four.

Junior Chad Nelson (Columbus, OH) scored a game high 19 points, as he went 10-of-14 from the foul line.

The third Panther in double figures was freshman Shemar Waugh (Columbus, OH) as he scored 16 points, while also recording six assists and five rebounds.

Senior Jesse Ward (North Pole, AK) scored a season high nine points off the bench. Ward also tied a career high with seven rebounds.

Freshman Ronnie Williams (Columbus, OH) added nine points, while dishing out two assists.

The Panthers shot over 50 percent from the field for the first time since an 89-69 win over Notre Dame (OH) on November 19, 2014. ODU shot 51.2 percent (22-of-43) for the game, and 59.1 percent (13-of-22) in the second half. The Panthers held Lake Erie to just 38.9 percent (14-of-36) shooting in the second half.

ODU also shot a season high 40 free throws, making 29 for the game. The Panthers were 19-of-25 (.760) from the charity stripe in the second half.

The Black and Gold received 32 points off the bench which set a new season high. The Panthers also held a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Panthers would start the second half with three pointers from Nelson and Williams to gain a 38-34 advantage with 19:11 remaining.

With the score tied at 42-42, ODU would go on a 17-7 run capped by two foul shots from Waugh to give the Panthers a 59-49 advantage with just over 10 minutes remaining.

ODU would grow its lead to as many as 11 points, 68-57, after a free throw from Weaver with 7:43 left to play.

The Storm would chip the Panther lead down to two, before a three pointer from Waugh at the top of the key gave ODU a 73-68 lead with 2:41 remaining.

LEC would not go away as they cut the lead to one point with 30 seconds remaining. Nelson would make two free throws to grow the Panther lead to 79-76 with 29 seconds left.

On the next Storm possession, Weaver would block a layup attempt, and Ward would then add two free throws with seven seconds remaining to clinch the victory for ODU.

Similar to the second half, ODU jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after their first two possession after two free throws from Weaver and a three pointer by Williams.

Lake Erie would battle back and hold a 29-21 lead with 5:32 remaining before the intermission. The Panthers would close the first half on an 11-5 run to cut the Storm lead to 34-32 at the break.

The Black and Gold will be in action again at 8 p.m. on Monday night, as they travel to Tiffin for their third game and five days.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu