GAME NOTES
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's men's basketball team travels to Findlay and Hillsdale this week as Great Midwest Athletic Conference action dwindles don to the end of the season.
The contest with Findlay will tip at 7:30 p.m. in Croy Gymnasium while the contest with Hillsdale tips at 3 p.m. in Potter Arena.
About Ohio Dominican
The Panthers enter the week with an 11-12 overall record and are 7-6 in the conference after wins over Lake Erie last Thursday and Wright St.-Lake on Saturday.
In the win over Lake Erie, and the Panthers up one with 6:59 remaining, a 12-2 run gave ODU the chance to finish the game at the free throw line. The Panthers finished the game going 10-of-12 at the charity stripe over the last 1:40 and were 22-of-26 overall in the game to secure the win.
In the win over Wright St.-Lake, ODU used a 54-3 run over a 14-minute span to gather a comfortable lead over the Lakers. ODU had six players score in double-figures that game with Shawn Moore (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Caleb Strohmeier (Edwardsville, Ind.) each notching career-high's with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Hasan Varence (Queens, New York) led the way averaging a double-double scoring 18 points per game to go along with 11 rebounds. Over the last four games, the senior big man has averaged 23.3 points per game while grabbing 11 rebounds per game and is shooting 59.2% from the floor (42-for-71). Varence continues to lead the conference in rebounds per game at 9.4, defensive rebounds per game at 7.4 and double-doubles with 12 which is 10th in the country.
Fellow senior Michael Scott (Hebron, Ky.) averages 6.0 assists per game which is second in the conference and 20th in the country. The senior point guard has averaged nearly eight assists per game (7.9) over the last seven games along with grabbing four rebounds and scoring 8.1 points per game.
In the past four games, ODU has shot 51.8% from the floor (128-of-247) which is the highest percentage in a four game stretch this season and have shot 39.2% from behind the arc (38-for-97) and are 76% at the free throw line (41-of-54).
About Findlay
Findlay comes into the week winners of 13 of their last 14 games and are 16-6 overall and 11-2 in the conference which puts them atop the points rating system that determines the seeding for the conference tournament.
The balanced Oiler offense has five players averaging double-figures with no one above 12 points per game. Freshman Nathan Bruns leads the way at 11.7 while Anthony Masterlasco is at 11.1, Aaron Overhiser is at 10.5 and Tommy Schmock and Ethan Linder each at 10.4. The Oilers 50.5% shooting percentage leads the conference and is 10th in the country as well.
Schmock will lead the Oilers on both ends of the floor as he leads the conference dishing out 6.9 assists per game which is ninth in the country and averages nearly three steals per game (2.91) which also leads the conference and is fourth in the country.
The Oiler defense allowed 68.0 points per game while their opponents shoot just 43.5% from the floor where they force 14.5 turnovers per game which is second in the conference behind Tiffin.
Findlay leads the overall series with ODU 17-2 with the last Panther win coming in a 68-66 win in the semifinals of the 2017 G-MAC Tournament which ODU would go on to win.
About Hillsdale
Hillsdale comes into the week with a 14-8 overall record and are 10-3 in the conference after defeating Trevecca and dropping to Kentucky Wesleyan on a buzzer beat last Saturday.
Before the Chargers host ODU, they will play host to Walsh on Thursday evening.
The Hillsdale offense that averaged 73.2 points per game is led by freshman Patrick Cartier at 15.1 points per game while Dylan Lowry pours in 14.0 per contest. Davis Larson and Austen Yarian are the other Chargers averaging double-figures at 13.0 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. The offense averages the fewest turnovers per game in the conference at 10.0 and have the fifth fewest turnovers in the country this season with 220.
The Charger defense allows the fewest points in the conference at 64.6 points per game with opponents shooting 42.6% from the floor. Hillsdale rarely gets in foul trouble as the Chargers lead the country in fewest fouls at 274 total which is 12.5 per game.
Hillsdale leads the overall series at 13-5 with an 8-0 home record against the Panthers. The Panthers have defeated the Chargers in four of their last five meeting by an average of 14.8 points per game.
