SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. -- The Ohio Dominican men's basketball team could not recover from slow starts in each half as they suffered an 82-66 loss at Lake Superior State on Thursday night.

The Panthers (3-9, 1-6 GLIAC) afforded the Lakers (11-2, 6-1 GLIAC) the first 13 points of the contest as they were unable to recover from the deficit to take a lead.

ODU was led by junior Mark Minch (West Chester, OH) for the second consecutive game as he recorded 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

Junior Chad Nelson (Columbus, OH) tied a season high in three point field goal makes with three. Nelson ended the game with 13 points.

Junior Trent Weaver (Columbus, OH) recorded 10 points and a team high eight rebounds. Weaver also tied a career high with three assists.

Freshman Mike DeLeon (Powell, OH) returned to the court for the first time since December 14, as he grabbed six rebounds and recorded a personal season high six assists to lead ODU.

Each side shot at least 45 percent from the field, as well as, making seven three point shots apiece. The Lakers however would outscore the Panthers by 10 points at the foul line and forced 20 ODU turnovers. The Panthers would outrebound LSSU, who ranked third in the GLIAC, 38-36.

After ODU fell behind by 13 points to start the game, the Panthers were able to cut the deficit to 36-28 going into halftime.

Just like the start of the game, the Panthers started the second half slow as LSSU started the second half on a 9-4 run to take a 13 point lead, 47-34 with just over 16 minutes left to play.

The Panthers would battle back as they would cut the Laker lead to as little as one point on a few occasions with the latest coming after a Minch three pointer made the score 61-60 with 7:25 remaining.

The Lakers, however, would outscore the Panthers 21-6 in the final seven minutes to take the 82-66 victory.

The Black and Gold will look to respond at Northwood at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon as they close out regular season play against GLIAC North opponents.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu