COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers men's basketball team will play host to three Midwest Region opponents for a season-opening crossover at Alumni Hall. This weekend has the Lewis Flyers, McKendree Bearcats and the Tiffin Dragons playing in Columbus on Friday (Nov. 10) and Saturday (Nov. 11).  

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

• Friday November 10th
  • Ohio Dominican vs. Lewis - 5:30 PM
  • Tiffin vs. McKendree - 7:30 PM
• Saturday November 11th
  • Tiffin vs. Lewis - 1:00 PM
  • Ohio Dominican vs. McKendree - 3:00 PM

• ODU ended the 2022-23 season with an 9-18 overall mark and a 5-15 record in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. 
• This will be a new look squad under the tutelage of new head coach Casey Kaufman, who joins the Panthers after eight seasons at the helm of the Malone Pioneers, another G-MAC foe. 
• Three members of the 2022-23 team return, two of them will be seniors. Nate Webb (Lafayette, Indiana) averaged 2.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 21 games (11 starts). Kevin James (Massillon, Ohio) battled an injury midway through the season to appear in 14 games. He added 5.6 points and 3.5 rebounds of his own in his debut campaign. Kayin Derden (Columbus, Ohio) appeared in 19 games off the bench with 2.7 points per game. 
• In the mix of the ten newcomers to the Black and Gold, there will be six freshman on the roster. Lachlan MacDonald (Dublin, Ohio), Sean McKitrick (Dayton, Ohio), Luke Ruth (Grove City, Ohio) and Caleb Maurer (Fort Loramie, Ohio) join the team as guards. Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a forward for the Panthers. 
• In addition to the six freshman, four transfers will enter Alumni Hall as members of the Ohio Dominican team. Brady Moore (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) and Elijah Hinton (Newark, Ohio) will come from Malone while Zac Kimball (Sydney, Australia) transferred from Fairmont State. JeJuan Weatherspoon (Columbus, Ohio), a Columbus native, comes to ODU from West Florida.  
• Ohio Dominican was selected tenth in the 2023-24 Great Midwest Preseason Coaches Poll as voted on by the head coaches of the league. 
• In the Division II era (2010-present), the Panthers have played both the Flyers and the Bearcats once in early season crossovers. ODU is 1-0 against both teams with a 2012 win over McKendree in St. Louis and a 2017 win over Lewis up in Hillsdale, Michigan.
• ODU is 6-7 in season openers for the Division II era.  They are 10-3 in home openers during that span. 

ABOUT THE FLYERS

• Lewis finished the 2022-23 season with a 8-20 overall record and 3-17 in the GLVC. 
• The Flyers ended the season on a nine-game losing streak, including six one-possession games over that span. 
• Away from Romeoville, Illinois, the Flyers were 2-11 for the year. 
• Lewis returns six players from the 2022-23 season with three of the top four scorers. 
• Beau Frericks, who was a Second Team All-GLVC member last season, averaged a team-high 15.3 points per game (9th in the GLVC) with a team-high 34.1 minutes per game. His free throw percentage of 91.1% was second in the conference. He led the team with 51 three pointers. 
• Jamere Hill was second on the team with 11.8 points and 3.1 assists per game (10th in the GLVC). He added 1.43 steals per contest (7th in the GLVC) and had a 1.28 assist/turnover ratio. 
• Devin Vanderheydt had the team lead for rebounds (5.4 RPG) while averaging 8.1 points. 
• Lewis averages 69.2 points scored (13th of 13 teams), 32.5 rebounds on offense (10th) and is shooting .467 overall (.361 from deep). The opposition is scoring 71.3 points per game, grabbing 31.3 rebounds and holding a .451 clip shooting (.354 from three). 
• The Flyers shot 76.9% at the charity stripe for the 2nd highest clip. 
• Scott Trost is in his 17th season at the helm of the Flyers, gaining a record of 298-196.
• Lewis was voted 10th of 14 teams in the GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll. 

ABOUT THE BEARCATS

• McKendree was 20-13 in the 2022-23 season, making a late run through the GLVC and the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Bearcats were 11-9 in the GLVC to earn the sixth seed. 
• As the sixth seed, the Bearcats ran through the GLVC Tournament to win the title after wins over #3 William Jewell (80-68), #7 Southwest Baptist (87-67), and #5 Missouri-St. Louis (62-51). 
• As the GLVC AQ bid, the Bearcats weren't done yet. McKendree upset the #1 seed in the Midwest - UIndy 75-63 to advance to the Round of 32. They advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 93-83 win over the #5 seed Northern Michigan (who beat McKendree in the opening weekend). Facing UMSL once again, the Tritons won 62-60 in the Sweet 16 (regional final) to win the Midwest. 
• McKendree returns nine players from the team last year, including their leading scorer - Milos Vicentic. 
  • Vicentic was on the All-GLVC Second Team as he scored 17.2 points per game (2nd in the GLVC). The Serbia native shot 54.7% from the floor as the third best FG% in the league. 
• Caleb Zurliene averaged 10.5 points and was tied for the rebounding lead with 6.5 rebounds per contest. He swatted away 74 shots - the most in the GLVC by 34 rejections. 
• McKendree averages 73.9 points scored (6th of 13 teams), 33.7 rebounds on offense (8th) and is shooting .493 overall (.382 from deep). They were the leading team in field goal percentage and were third for threes. The opposition is scoring 71.2 points per game, grabbing 32.2 rebounds and holding a .426 clip shooting (.320 from three). Once again, McKendree was the leader in three point defense and third in field goal defense. 
• George Suggs is in his 3rd season at McKendree, gaining a record of 34-25.
• McKendree was voted fifth of 14 teams in the GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll - the highest ranking in program history. 

UP NEXT

The Panthers will head to West Virginia to face the Davis & Elkins Senators on Wednesday (Nov. 15) at 5:00 PM.