COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Dominican men's basketball team received 21 points from Zach Szul (Waterville, Ohio) but fell on the road at Lake Erie Saturday afternoon, 60-57. 

Szul made 7-of-16 field goal attempts for his team-high scoring total, giving him 20-plus points in three of the past four outings. The guard added four rebounds and was one of three Panther players with two steals defensively. 

Alek West (Sylvania, Ohio) pitched in 11 points, while leading ODU with nine rebounds. West and Brandon Gibson II (Dayton, Ohio) co-led the Panthers with three assists each. 

Ohio Dominican (7-17, 4-12 G-MAC) and Lake Erie (12-9, 6-8 G-MAC) combined for 11 made triples in the first half, but the Storm never trailed during the opening half of play. LEC scored eight of the first 10 points and led by as many as nine points in the first half. The Panthers, however, held the Storm to just one field goal over the final four minutes and a layup from Caleb Strohmeier (Edwardsville, Ill.) closed their deficit to three points at the intermission, 32-29. 

The Black & Gold then opened the first 4:15 of the second half on an 11-4 run to capture their first advantage of the game, 40-36. Despite ODU pushing its lead to as many as seven points, LEC kept the contest within three possessions throughout. 

With the score deadlocked at 55-all, the Storm received two free throws and a layup on back-to-back offensive possessions to secure a 59-55 lead with 53 seconds remaining. ODU could only score once down the stretch, as LEC won its fourth consecutive game. 

The Panthers are now slated for a two-game stretch against Cedarville next week, beginning with a home contest in Alumni Hall at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Contact: Tyler Jester

jestert@ohiodominican.edu