FINDLAY, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican men's basketball team fell on the road to GLIAC rival, Findlay, on Thursday night, 73-63.

The Panthers fell to 6-14 overall and 4-11 in the GLIAC with the loss. UF has now won three games in a row, improving to 11-9 overall (8-8 GLIAC).

Senior Jesse Ward (North Pole, AK) set a career high with 23 points, going 9-of-13 from the field, making five, three point field goal attempts. Ward also tied a career high with seven rebounds.

Freshman Shemar Waugh (Columbus, OH) added nine points and four assists off the bench for the Panthers.

Juniors Chad Nelson (Columbus, OH) and Trent Weaver (Columbus, OH), and freshmen Ronnie Williams (Columbus, OH) and Mike DeLeon (Powell, OH) each had six points. Weaver and DeLeon each recorded six rebounds, while Nelson dished out three assists.

The Panthers and Oilers played a tightly contested first half with the largest lead for either team being five points. ODU would jump out to an early three point lead, 7-4, after a DeLeon jumper five minutes into the game.

UF would answer with a 7-0 run in less than a minute to take an 11-7 lead with 14:12 left before the break. The Oilers would grow their lead to as many as five in the first half, but the Panthers would rally back as a 5-0 run would give ODU their first lead since the opening minutes at 26-25 with 4:34 remaining.

The Panthers, however would be outscored in the final four minutes of the opening half, 11-5, as the Oilers took a 36-30 lead into intermission.

After a DeLeon score to start the second half, UF used a 13-6 run to take an 11 point lead at 49-38 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the contest.

A Ward three pointer would cut the UF lead to seven, 55-48 with 8:19 left to play. Ward would hit another three to cut the Oiler lead to six, 63-57 with 1:29 remaining.

UF, however, would double their lead at that point to take a 72-60 lead with one minute remaining. The Oilers would cap the game off with free throws down the stretch.

The Panthers will look to bounce back on Saturday as they host Wayne State at 3 p.m. inside Alumni Hall.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jester@ohiodominican.edu