COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Dominican Panthers men's basketball team will travel to West Virginia to resume an old conference rivalry with the Davis & Elkins Senators on Wednesday (Nov. 15) evening. 

The Panthers and the Senators will tip off at 5:00 PM as a part of a home-and-home series following the Senators departure from the G-MAC a few years ago. 

OPENING TIPOFF

• The Panthers fell to Lewis 80-75 on Friday before battling McKendree, who was receiving votes in the 2023-24 NABC Preseason Poll, to a 78-71 defeat.
• Ohio Dominican sits at 0-2 through the first weekend of play for the 2023-24 season. 
• JeJuan Weatherspoon (Columbus, Ohio) dazzled in his ODU debut back in Columbus, his hometown. In the first game, he led the Panthers with 23 points. The senior transfer was six-of-15 from the floor with an 11-of-12 mark at the free throw line. He added five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. 17 of his points came in the second half with nine free throws.
  • Against McKendree, he scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his fourth career double-double. He dished out a career-best five assists. Through two games, he is third in the G-MAC with 22.5 points per game scoring average. He also has an average of 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. 
• Seven different players had double-digit games in the opening weekend. Caleb Brooks (Florence, Kentucky) had games of 11 and 10 points, respectively, as he averages 10.5 points per game with 3.5 rebounds. 
• Just like Brooks, Sean McKitrick (Dayton, Ohio) and Luke Ruth (Grove City, Ohio) had strong debuts for the weekend in their first games at the collegiate level. McKitrick averages 9.5 points per game while Ruth has an opening stat line of 8.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 3.5 APG. 
• Zac Kimball (Sydney, Australia), a Fairmont State transfer, tallied 13 points in his Panthers debut on Friday with two threes, five rebounds and three assists. 
• In the Division II era (2010-present), ODU and D&E have met five times with four of them coming while both teams were a part of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. ODU had a 4-0 advantage in the G-MAC era before Davis & Elkins won the first matchup as a MEC school last season in Columbus.
  • The Senators were victorious last season 75-51.
  • Jarius Jones led the Panthers with 13 points on six-of-16 shooting and a team-high (and career-high) eight rebounds.
  • Keshawn Heard added 12 points off the bench with six field goals made on eight attempts. 
• After the first weekend, ODU ranks fifth among G-MAC schools with a .460 field goal defense %, sixth in field goal % (.441). The Panthers made 19 threes at a .404 clip, fifth best in the conference. 
• Offensively, Ohio Dominican took care of the ball with only 11 turnovers in two games, a +3.50 turnover margin (3rd best in the G-MAC). They lead the league with a 2.64 A/TO ratio. 

ABOUT THE SENATORS

• Davis & Elkins enters play at a 1-1 overall record after a weekend at the Earl Lloyd Classic at West Virginia State. 
• The Senators defeated Shaw 80-77 in the season opener but fell 76-73 to Winston-Salem State in the second game. 
• Sam Rolle IV scored a team-high 12.5 points per game, including 16 vs. Shaw. He has a team best 12 assists (6.0 APG). 
• Rashaun Parker added 12 points in his only contest vs. Winston-Salem State, making four threes. 
• Nicolas Silva (11.5 PPG), Vadim Clanet (10.5 PPG) and Tristan Starks (10.0 PPG) are all in double-figures for the Senators. 
• Charleston Ponds led the rebounding category with ten boards in two games. 
• Daniel Mondragon in his fifth season at Davis & Elkins. After three seasons of less than ten wins, he and the Senators had a 19-11 record last season. 
• D&E was voted 5th of 11 teams in the Mountain East Preseason Coaches Poll.