PAINESVILLE, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's men's basketball team could not overcome a slow start, falling 96-78 to Lake Erie Thursday evening in the Osborne Center.

Senior Sam Hickey (Toledo, Ohio) led the way for the Panthers scoring 20 points, including 15 in the second half, on 7-of-12 shooting while also grabbing six rebounds. Hasan Varence (Queens, New York) notched 17 points and grabbed five rebounds while Sean Marks (Delaware, Ohio) came off the bench to score 13 points. Michael Scott (Hebron, Ky.) scored 10 points and dished out eight assists which is the fifth straight game with more than five assists for the senior point guard.

After a Varence three to put the Panthers down two at 9-7, the Storm would go on a 20-9 run to open a 13-point lead with 10:40 remaining in the first half. With Lake Erie leading 31-19 with 8:52 remaining in the half, the Storm would close the half outscoring the Panthers 25-7 to head into the half with a 54-26 lead.

LEC (11-7, 5-3) shot 62.2% from the floor in that first half and forced nine Panther turnovers which led to 17 points for the Storm.

In the second half, the Panthers were able to cut their deficit down to 13 at 76-63 with 5:58 remaining on a Michael Simon (Hilliard, Ohio) free throw after a Hickey three. The Storm would answer with a three and got their lead back to 20 at 87-67 on another three.

The Panthers shot 51.8% from the floor (29-of-56) and 44.8% (13-for-29) from behind the arc while Lake Erie shot a blazing 60% (36-of-60) from the floor and 48% (12-of-25) from three. The Storm also outrebounded the Panthers 32-22 with the Panthers only grabbing five offensive rebounds on the evening.

The Panthers, now 7-10 overall and 4-4 in the conference, will look to bounce back as they host Cedarville Saturday at 1 p.m. in Alumni Hall.