COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's men's basketball team dropped a 70-48 decision to Walsh in Great Midwest Athletic Conference action Monday evening in Alumni Hall.

The Panthers were led by seniors Sam Hickey (Toledo, Ohio) and Hasan Varence (Queens, New York) who had 15 and 12 points, respectively. Varence also grabbed a team-high six rebounds while Hickey had five rebounds.

In a slow first half, it was 4-4 up until the 12:36 mark in the opening 20 minutes. With the score 15-13 in favor of Walsh with 8:42 to go in the first half off an Ethan Haynes (Florence, Ky.) layup, the Cavaliers would finish the half on a 15-4 run to send the teams into the half with the score 30-16 in favor of Walsh.

The Panther defense forced 10 Cavalier turnovers in the opening frame but converted just seven points off those turnovers on their way to shooting 21% (7-for-33) in the half. Walsh shot 45.8% (11-for-24) in the opening 20 minutes to gain the edge.

ODU came out hot in the second half starting the first 5:47 of the remaining 20 minutes on a 17-6 run to trim their deficit to three at 36-33 with 14:13 to play as Matt King (Mason, Ohio) drained a three from the corner to narrow the deficit. Hickey scored six points in that stretch with King and Varence each scoring five for the Panthers.

Walsh would regain their momentum after the Panther run going on a 17-3 run to open up a 17-point lead at 53-36 with 9:19 remaining in the contest. ODU would be outscored 17-12 throughout the final nine-plus minutes for the Cavaliers to advance their record to 8-1 overall and 2-1 in the G-MAC. The Panthers fall to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in the G-MAC after the loss.

ODU shot a season-low 29.8% from the floor (17-for-57) and just 23% (6-for-26 from behind the arc while Walsh shot 48% (23-for-48) and 40% (8-for-20) from three. The ODU defense forced 17 Cavalier turnovers on the evening converting 17 points off those turnovers.

Ohio Dominican will return to the hardwood as they travel to West Liberty St. Saturday afternoon to face the No. 22 Hilltoppers in nonconference action with tip set for 4 p.m.