FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican men's basketball team will open up the New Year with road contests on back-to-back nights in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The Panthers will travel to face Michigan Tech for a 3 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, January 2, before traveling to play Northern Michigan at 5 p.m. on the following evening.
ABOUT OHIO DOMINICAN
The Panthers, 3-7 overall this season, have opened GLIAC play 0-4, with two losses each coming at home and on the road. To round out the month of December, ODU faced NCAA Division I institution Ohio in an exhibition.
The Black and Gold have received solid scoring off the bench from freshman Michael Simon (Hilliard, OH) in the past three contests, including the exhibition. Simon tied for the team high with 18 points against Ohio. Over the past three contests Simon is shooting close to 70 percent from the floor, over 64 percent from 3-point range, 81.8 percent at the charity stripe, and is scoring close to 15 points per game.
Leading the way offensively this season for ODU has been senior Trent Weaver (Columbus, OH). Weaver is averaging a team best 15.9 points per game, and also leads the Panthers in rebounding at 9.9 per contest.
On the year Weaver has six double-doubles, tying for 11th in NCAA Division II. He is also just 15 points shy of becoming the 21st player in ODU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 career points plateau.
Sophomore guards Ronnie Williams (Columbus, OH) and Shemar Waugh (Columbus, OH) are each sporting a scoring average in double figures through the first 10 games. Coming off the bench, Williams is averaging 12.3 points per game, while his 21 three point field goals is good enough for seventh in the GLIAC as of December 14.
Waugh is scoring 10.5 points per contest and he leads the team in helpers, dishing out 4.6 per contest, good enough for seventh in the conference, and inside the top 75 in Division II.
Ohio Dominican continues to take care of the basketball, ranking 31st in the NCAA in turnovers per game at 11.3. The Black and Gold's team assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.27 is also good enough for a spot inside the top 50 in the country.
As a team, the Panthers continue to rebound effectively on the offensive end, grabbing over 13 rebounds per contest. The 13.2 average in offensive rebounds ranks fourth in the GLIAC and 57th in the nation.
ABOUT MICHIGAN TECH
The Huskies (2-6, 1-3 GLIAC) enter the weekend on a four game losing streak, including a 70-64 home loss to Wisconsin-Parkside last time out. MTU is just 1-3 at home this season.
Michigan Tech ranks 14th in the GLIAC in scoring, averaging 67.6 points per contest, but the Huskies are fourth in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage at 38.7 percent.
Kyle Monroe leads the Huskies in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
ABOUT NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Northern Michigan (3-5, 1-3 GLIAC) will host Tiffin on Saturday prior to welcoming ODU the next day. The Wildcats have won each of their past two home games entering this weekend.
NMU has one of the top five scoring defenses in the GLIAC this season, giving up just 67.5 points per contest. The offense is led by Naba Echols and Jordan Perez, who are each averaging over 13 points per game.
Perez is grabbing a team high 5.9 rebounds per game, while Echols is among the team leaders in assists at 2.4 per contest.
Contact: Tyler Jester
jestert@ohiodominican.edu
