Box Score TIFFIN, Ohio – Senior Hasan Varence (Queens, New York) recorded his 1,000th career rebound and fellow classmate Sam Hickey (Toledo, Ohio) surpassed the 1,500 point mark in the Ohio Dominican men's basketball 79-67 win over Tiffin Saturday afternoon.
Varence becomes just the second player in Ohio Dominican history to record 1,500 points and grab 1,000 rebounds joining Jim Underwood (1968-72). Hickey becomes the fourth player in Panther history to surpass 1,500 points in his career.
Varence finished the contest with a team high 31 points on 15-of-21 shooting and nine rebounds. Hickey and fellow senior Michael Scott (Hebron, Ky.) each had 12 points while Scott finished with a team high seven assists.
Redshirt freshman Ethan Haynes (Florence, Ky.) posted his second consecutive game with double-digits scoring 10 points with four assists and four rebounds.
In the first half, the Panthers started out with a 9-5 lead before Tiffin tied the game at 15-15 with 13:25 to play in the opening half. With the score tied at 25 apiece at the 9:03 mark, a 9-0 Panther run would give ODU a lead they would never relinquish.
The Panthers went into the half with a 45-41 lead with Varence scoring 18 points on 9-of-10 from the floor and ODU shooting 71.4% (20-for-28).
The second half began with ODU never regaining a lead larger than nine through the first 10 minutes of the second half. With the Panthers leading 64-59 with 9:20 remaining in the contest, ODU would go on a 14-6 run to open a 14-point lead, there largest of the game, at 79-65 with 2:47 remaining.
The Panthers were 29-of-40 (72.5%) from inside the arc on the afternoon outscoring Tiffin 48-24 in the paint which included 26-6 in the first half. ODU's 60.3% from the floor (35-of-58) was the highest percentage in a game for the Panthers this season. ODU also held the lead for 34:11 in the contest where there were three ties and six lead changes, none in the second half.
Tiffin was led by Jairus Stevens who scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Dragons were held to 41.7% shooting (25-of-60) and 40.7% (11-for-27) from behind the arc.
With the win, the Panthers advance to 9-11 overall and are over .500 in the conference sitting at 6-5. TU drops to 7-14 overall and are 1-10 in conference play.
ODU has the midweek off before hosting Tiffin in the back-to-back Saturday, February 1 with tip at 1 p.m. inside Alumni Hall.
