CANTON, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's men's basketball team defeated Malone in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference matchup Saturday evening at Osborne Hall by a score of 81-70.

With the win the Panthers advance to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the G-MAC while Malone drops to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Leading the way for the Panthers was junior Hasan Varence (Queens, New York) who recorded his first double-double of the season with 17 points and a season-high 13 rebounds.

Also in double-figures for the Panthers were sophomore Tahj Curry (Fort Wayne, Indiana) and junior Sam Hickey (Toledo, Ohio) who each had 15 points while senior Ryan Hoyng (Celina, Ohio) had 12.  

The first half saw a back-and-forth contest that included four ties and seven lead changes.

With the score tied 10-10, the teams traded baskets up to a 21-20 Panther lead on a Curry three pointer with 6:48 remaining.

Malone would grab the lead at 25-23 with 5:19 remaining before an 11-3 run capped by a Hoyng layup gave ODU a 34-28 advantage heading into the locker room.

Out of the half, the Pioneers cut the Panther lead to two at 41-39 with 17:44 remaining in the contest.

ODU was able to push that lead back out to 10 off a 9-1 run capped by a Hickey three and then again at the 10:11 mark off a layup from Shawn Moore (Indianapolis, Indiana) to make the score 56-46.

An 8-0 Pioneer run cut the Panther lead to two at 56-54 but a Michael Simon (Hilliard, Ohio) three ended the run.

With the score 61-59 in favor of the Panthers, ODU went on a 7-0 run capped by a Varence layup to extend the lead to nine at 68-59 with 5:07 remaining.

The Pioneers got to within five at 75-70 with 53 seconds remaining but free throws from Curry, Hickey and Arius Jones (Fort Wayne, Indiana) sealed the Panther victory.

ODU shot 48.2% (27-for-56) from the floor and 40% (10-for-25) from distance while the Pioneers shot 39.7% (25-for-63) from the floor and 36.4% (8-for-22) from distance.

Malone was led by Bryce Butler who scored 24 points while Nate Sheppard had 20 with seven rebounds and Marcus Ernst had 11 points with seven rebounds.

The Panthers have a week off before hosting Lake Erie in the conference home-opener Saturday, December 8 with tip set for 3 p.m. at Alumni Hall.